Consequences of Apathy
by HiKari Mokuba's Guardian
Summary: Sequel to "Captivity" There is something Mokuba won't tell me, an experience that kills him inside. I wish he would tell me what happened, but now we have bigger problems. We're being held captive by a kid that I fear might tear my brother and I apart.
1. Chapter 1: Horrors We Keep To Ourselves

_Hello one and all. It is I, HiKari, coming to you with the much anticipated fanfiction event of the fall season. Now, I'm sure you're all EXPLODING with excitement and can't bare to read even a sentence of an author's note, but I am just letting you know that this story will alternate from Seto's and Mokuba's POV, and the way you can tell it's Mokuba is by the -M- and the way you can tell it's Seto is by the -S-_

_So now, without further ado, I present to you the sequel to "Captivity"_

_This is "Consequences of Apathy"_

Chapter 1: Horrors We Keep To Ourselves

**-M-**

Falling. I found that only the worst is yet to come when someone is falling or has fallen. It makes people more vulnerable, it gives a feeling of failure, and worst of all… wait, was I just monologuing? Did that mean that… I was alive?

I opened my eyes and my vision became clear. I was alive! But when I turned my head and saw my brother lying there, I instantly became worried. I got up and shook him, urging him to awaken and open his eyes.

"Nii-sama! Wake up!" Thankfully Seto woke up right after that, opening his eyes and sitting up as well. "Are you okay?" I asked. Seto rubbed his head before turning to me.

"I've been in better shape, how about you?" I sighed with relief, at least he was being sarcastic. That was always a good thing.

"I'm fine…" I looked around, trying to take in the reality of our current location, "I think." Seto got up and I did the same. It appeared as though we were in the middle of some kind of forest. The trees surrounding us stood up high, blocking out most of the light except in small patches. There was a cool breeze that blew through the forest, but it didn't help to calm our nerves.

"One minute we're falling through a random hole, and the next minute we're here…" I looked up at my brother, "Do you think we're actually trapped in this place?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind, and I'm sure that green haired punk is the one to blame for all this." Seto started walking down the dirt path that we had been standing in the middle of, it would most likely lead deeper into the forest. "Come on Mokuba, we should probably get moving. Standing here probably isn't the thing to do here." I followed my brother's lead as he had asked and we continued into the forest.

As we were walking, I couldn't help but wonder what Noah could possibly want with us. And how he even knew us. Sure, we were pretty famous back in Japan… but a random underwater base in the middle of the ocean? Was that where he lived? Nothing made my sense, I had to ask Seto for myself.

"I understand how the Big 5 would want to kill us and use our bodies to… yeah, I'm not really sure what it is they're trying to do, but Noah… who is that guy anyway? And what's he after anyway?" I looked up at Seto, but he continued on without looking in my direction.

"I can't be sure," He replied, "I'm guessing he wants what's mine, just like the rest of the world. But what I don't understand is how Noah managed to build this place, I'm sure he isn't capable of doing it on his own."

"Maybe the Big 5 helped him?" Seto stopped and turned towards me.

"Psh-as if those goons could ever amount to anything. No, I'm sure it was someone else. Those five are too stupid to be able to do anything like this," Which I agreed with for the most part, considering how moronic they were, "There must be some other source backing them up, this is probably just another attempt to take over Kaiba Corp." As much as I hated it, Seto was probably right. The reason anyone did anything to us was because of our company, that damned company.

Kaiba Corporation was a great company, a company to be proud of. When Seto took over he had changed the place and converted it from a military company to a gaming company. The company itself symbolized the struggle we had endured under our step father's control, the fight we had fought all our lives. But at the end of the day, when everything is said and done, was it really worth all the consequences it came with?

I shook these thoughts away and tried to focus on the current issue. "Do you think we'll be able to escape?" I asked, a little afraid to hear the response.

"Whoever made this based it off of my creation. I'm sure there's an emergency exit around here somewhere. We just have to find it." I looked up and smiled at Seto, before running ahead.

"We'll find it! I'm sure we will!" I stated happily. But even as I ran, even with Seto's reassurance, there was nothing that I could be certain about in this place. This kid… Noah… Seto and I didn't know anything about him, and the worst part was, we didn't know what kind of power he possessed. For all we know, the game might've already been lost.

But I tried to set aside these thoughts and kept running on ahead. We would eventually have to run into something at some point, we couldn't walk forever. We walked on for possibly a half hour or so, not really talking to one another. I would glance up at Seto from time to time, trying to figure out what he might be thinking about.

Seto was such a calm and collected person. He knew how to keep his emotions aside from the problems he faced. I knew the real Seto, I knew he had emotions, but even I would sometimes forget. His emotions were hard to see a lot of the time, and he would do things in particular ways to keep them in hiding.

This was never much of a huge deal, considering I was the only one Seto really trusted when it came to his emotions. He had opened up to me plenty of times in the past since I was his brother. But… after what happened. At Duelist Kingdom… when it all went wrong. Seto knew something was up, that something had happened.

But I had refused to tell him. Seto kept trying to find out for weeks and week, but I would never give in. I was simply unwilling to tell him such horrors that I had been subjected to. After all, what would've been the point? What's done was done… nothing could change that. He couldn't protect anymore, because I had already been broken in many ways. That was when he hardened a bit more, and I saw less of his emotions.

I began to slow my pace until I was no longer running but walking. I tightened my fist by my side, pinching myself to the point where it hurt. I hated myself for not being able to tell Seto, because in a way, that was the reason he had stopped showing me his emotions. Seto felt I had lost trust in him, and so somehow, he had lost trust in me. We appeared to be okay, but emotionally, our relationship was breaking. I didn't know where we were or if we would ever get back to normal again, all I knew was that I was incapable of telling him what had happened. I just couldn't do it.

All my thought suddenly froze with the sudden sight of a wooden door up ahead. It was just… floating there. It wasn't attached to anything, it didn't seem. It was just standing still in mid air.

"Woah, Nii-sama, check that out!" I said, running up to it.

"Mokuba, don't touch it!" Seto commanded. I stopped just as I stood right in front of it. My brother ran up from behind me and was examining it with his eyes.

"Do you think it's the emergency exit, Nii-sama?" I asked, looking up at my brother. Seto eyed with skepticism.

"I'm not sure, but I guess we have no other choice but to find out," Seto pushed me behind him and used his other hand to twist the knob, "Remember to stay right behind me whatever happens. Got it?" I nodded, even though my brother hadn't been looking. With a small tug, the door opened and a bright light shown through. I covered my eyes and wasn't able to see anything, until the light seemed to go away.

When I re-opened my eyes and I was surprised, almost shocked to see what I saw. It was a lone building, surrounding by an iron gate. I gasped when I realized that this was…

**-S-**

"The orphanage… we grew up in," Mokuba said with a quiet voice.

"It's a trick," I barked instantly, "Just like everything else in this place. But the only thing I'm curious is to how Noah knew about this place." We walked through the doorway and it disappeared from behind us. I stared at the place with no sorrow or nostalgic feelings. What's done is done, the past was gone. I had trained myself to be unaffected by such things.

And showing me the dump of an orphanage was simply not going to do it. This Noah guy must've been a real moron to think I was going to get roughed up just by seeing this.

"I thought I would never have to see this place again," Mokuba said in a dark voice.

"I told you Mokuba, it's just a virtual illusion. It's not real," I said harshly. I knew that the days we spent in the orphanage were still hard on him, but I couldn't have Mokuba falling for Noah's tricks. He had to stay just as strong as me and realize these virtual images could never affect us.

"Well, it still brings back bad memories," Mokuba stated gravely, "I'll never forget the first day we came here. It was the worst day of my life." I opened my mouth to say something in response, but then we heard a voice from afar.

"Welcome boys." We both turn around and our eyes open to see two boys standing in the entrance of the gates. A small boy with long black hair, looking at the car that was driving away from behind him, and a somewhat taller boy with short brown hair, holding his hand. The two boys… were us.

"What…?" Mokuba wasn't sure what to say or how to react.

"That kid… he must've figured out how to tap into our memory banks and digitally replay certain events in our lives." Mokuba said nothing. All we could do was stare, stare at our younger selves, stare at the children we had once been. But then, all to quickly, the scene changed once more and it was sunset. We turned to see a small boy, sitting on a swing, all by himself staring at the ground. It was Mokuba.

"Mokuba." The younger Mokuba looked up just as my younger self had walked in, "Where have you been? I was looking all over for you." The younger Mokuba looked away for a moment, avoiding eye contact.

"I was just out here… thinking about Mom and Dad." The younger me walked over to him and placed his hand on the small boy's head.

"Let's go for a walk." The younger Mokuba's eyes filled with tears, and suddenly the scene changed again. The younger versions of us were walking along the bridge, talking to one another. I remembered this talk all too clearly, for it was the day I accepted to take all and full responsibility for Mokuba's life and safety. In a way, it was the day I became a father.

"I'm sorry, Nii-sama. I just couldn't stop thinking about how things use to be when Dad was alive. I just wish things could go back to the way they were," The younger Mokuba said, wiping the tears that began to escape from his eyes. The younger me placed his hand on his shoulder, his brother stopped and looked up into his face.

"Mokuba, don't cry anymore. I know how you feel. But we're not stray dogs or garbage. Don't worry about our parents, they didn't mean for this to happen and they're in a better place," The smaller Mokuba was staring up at the younger me with wide eyes and amazement. "I'll make sure you live happily. From no on, I'll be your father. I'll protect you no matter what. So wipe away those tears, always be on your guard. You'll never make it if you show weakness."

As the scene began to close, I thought I caught eye of Mokuba staring up at me. I glanced back down at him, but found he was still focused on the event that was playing out in front of us. Mokuba sighed, and I almost jumped from the sudden sound being made. It was… painful, almost, to see what we had to regain. What we had to grow up from and simply put behind us. But most of all… it was hardest with Mokuba. I knew that.

And then it happened again. We switched scenes, and now we were standing right by the orphanage. I looked through the window and was able to see my younger self and younger Mokuba sitting across from one another at a small table. We were playing chess. Our favorite pass time in those days. It was the only thing that kept our minds distracted from the internal pain we felt inside.

I was good at chess. No, not just good. I was great. Maybe it was my knowledge of my own skill that led me to persue Gozaburo Kaiba for the first time. The T.V. flashed on, and my younger self could be seen staring at the television screen with great interest. Gozaburo Kaiba came onto the screen and was shaking hands with someone, while holding a check under his arm. The news team announced that he would be donating the money to a local orphanage.

When that was announced, I made a plan and had acted accordingly. I was going to get adopted by that man and make a better life for myself, but most of all, for Mokuba's sake. I wasn't going to settle for anything more or anything less. From that day forward, I was dead set on achieving that goal.

Again, it happened. That the scene changed. We were standing in the opposite direction then from what we had been standing in. We watched as a limousine pulled up in front of the orphanage, and Gozaburo stepped out of the car. I couldn't forget that day, it had changed my life forever. The very first day I met my step father.

Mokuba and I watch in silence as Gozaburo walks by, and the younger versions of us pop our heads out of the room he passed by and stare at him. The younger Mokuba clings to my child self, shivering in fear from the sight of the man we would soon call step father.

"Today is the day I'll keep my promise," My younger self said, "That guy is the head of Kaiba Corporation and he's our ticket out of here. He'll adopt us. I'll make him." The scene then proceeded as accordingly. I challenged Gozaburo to a game of chess, set the conditions, and we had begun. To Gozaburo it was just a game, but for me it was a matter of life and death. Even as I watched this, I felt the feelings re-emerge.

The fear, the worry, and the absolute need for concentration I felt in that moment. I had used everything I had and everything I knew to try and win. I knew what was at stake, and failure was not an option. Especially not with Mokuba watching by my side. He needed me to win, I needed to get him out of here.

"That was the day we were adopted by Gozaburo…" Mokuba said quietly.

"That was the day I won Gozaburo at his own game and gained a future for us," I responded. I kept my eyes on the figures in the room in front of us, trying to disengaged my old feelings and keep control of my head. This was nothing to get emotional about, it was just a virtual image and nothing more.

Suddenly Mokuba turned and ran for the door, gripping it tightly.

"Mokuba! Wait! What are you doing?" I called, urging him to stop. He froze, his hands still tightly wrapped around the handle of the door.

"I liked the way things were! If the past can be changed, I want to make it so that you're still able to smile!" I was about to order him to come back once more, but upon seeing his face, I saw he was serious. I was a little taken back by his reaction, but instead I took a few steps towards him and held out my hand.

"Calm down--this isn't the past. This is just an illusion made by Noah! He's trying to tear us apart!" Mokuba turns away from me and forces open the door. A huge rush of air blows past him, and he screams as he begins to fall. I ran as fast as I could I thrust my arm downward, just in time to grab him by the arm. Down below him was utter darkness, and the raging waves of the ocean.

* * *

**A/N:**_Well, there you had it. The first chapter to my epic sequel. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a disappointment. After weeks of various opinions and thoughts, I finally decided to go with my gut on how to write this one. It seems that the best way to write any story is to close your eyes and just write it as it is. So that's how I did it. I'll probably continue this format for the rest of the story, alternating between POVs and such, but hopefully it isn't too confusing or annoying. Thanks for all the messages and time you guys spent helping me figure this out! I hope to hear from you all soon!_

_P.S: I do realize that the writing style that I did can get a little confusing and odd from time to time, but I ask your forgiveness and promise that it'll get better. It just takes about a chapter or so to get me back into the first person writing style, since I'm very use to writing in third person. Just letting you know._

_P.P.S: If you noticed, or if you didn't, I took some scenes from the Japanese version of some of the flashbacks. Like the thing where Seto told Mokuba he would become his father, that was all basically in the Japanese version. It was just so cute, I had to screw the 4kids and go with that! Okay, now I'm finished.  
_


	2. Chapter 2: Lost In A Wave Of Self Doubt

Starlight Luster: Oh dude, you don't have to worry about me taking dude personally(although I worry about that from time to time too:p) I'm from Cali so it's totally chill. Anyhow, if you loved THAT episode, you're going to love this one just as much! I hope this chapter doesn't fail though… I think it's got it's quirks to it though. Thanks for the review! Sequel here we go!

MythCreatorWriter: My darling! I'm so delighted to hear what joy you have for this story already! I have your PM reply saved in my e-mail, forgive me for taking so long to send it to you. I have written up most of it, so it shouldn't be long now. But in the mean time, yeah, I'm going to admit, the beginning of the last chapter was pretty awkward. There were other parts in that chapter that were awkward. You can never be too sure, people can get confused easily. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter! For you shall see, it's going to become VERY interesting quite soon. Thanks for the review!

Journey maker: Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: I wasn't expecting the sequel to be up so soon either, but then I sort of half was… considering I'm a rather fast updater since I can't really contain myself when it comes down to it. That sucks about how long you had to wait to read it! I hope that doesn't happen this time around… (even though it is prolly 1 or 2 in the morning over there) But still! I'm very happy to hear you think I pulled off the multi-POV well, cause I certainly didn't. First person is one of those things(for me) that I really have to get into the flow of things, so then writing two POVs for two different characters is proving to be quite hard, but hopefully I'll pull through. It's lovely to hear that you hold it so highly though! I'll prolly reply to your message of awesomeness soon. I had typed most of your message up as well, but then my friends came over and distracted me. I'm sorry! Anyways, thanks for the review!

Rena Redhead: Rena, Rena, Rena… what AM I going to do with you? I mean, it's just so obvious that I'm in love with you, but what can I do? People cannot force others to fall in love with them… but anyways. I hate the character limit too. Actually, everything about is annoying me, but whatever, I can learn to ignore it sometime. I'm really surprised that you didn't feel rushed, cause I sure did. And I'm triple surprised to hear how you think I contrasted them. I swear Rena deary, you find more purposes for my being than I do most days… Thanks for the review!:D Hahaha, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 2: Lost In A Wave Of Self Doubt

**-M-**

It was like I had felt before; things go wrong when people fall. I turned my head and looked up at my brother, his hand clasped around my arm was the only thing keeping me from falling into the violent waves before. The orphanage itself had completely disappeared at this point, and now Seto was holding onto me off the side of a cliff. I gulped and stared into his eyes; I didn't know another time where I was so desperate. A moment came to mind, but I couldn't think straight.

"Don't look down!" Seto said, trying his best to pull me up as slowly and securely as possible.

"Too late for that!" I said, trying my best to not look at my fate that lie miles below me, "Don't let go!" Seto was struggling to pull me up when the worst began to happen. I started inching downward, my hold on him was slipping. I held my breath and stared into his eyes once more.

"Hold on Mokuba!" Seto said, trying to move his other hand down to keep mine from slipping, but it was too late. My eyes widened as his hold on me slipped and there was a tearing sound that came from the sleeve on my arm. "NO!"

"Nii-sama!" My sleeve was left in Seto's hand as I began to fall downwards. The air was flying past me at amazing speed, and my body twisted so that now my back was to the water and I was looking up. I couldn't make out Seto's face as I fell, but the oddest thing was that… I wasn't scared. I didn't scream, I almost felt calm. All of the sudden, I was consumed by water as I had plummeted into the ocean.

Bubbles floated to the surface all around me, making it hard to see for a while. Then it settled as I began to peacefully sink to the bottom. My head was still turned and I was looking up at the surface of the water as I floated down. Still, I remained absolutely calm. I tried to move my arms and swim to the surface, but my body felt too heavy. I wasn't able to move at all. As a result, my body began to sink in a very peaceful manner.

Everything started to become darker and darker as I sank deeper. With my low tank of oxygen becoming more evident, a sleepy feeling started to come over me and my vision became fuzzy. This was it. I was going to die. But at the same time… I thought of all the times I truly thought I was going to die. Somehow, I never did. That was when I saw something jump into the ocean and swim towards me from above. I would've smiled, but it was obviously that my brain was malfunctioning.

A hand reached out towards me and grabbed my arm once again. I still remained motionless and calm as it pulled me up and put me in a more secure position. An arm came out of nowhere and wrapped itself across my chest. I looked up to see Seto fighting the waves and the current with only one arm to swim up with. I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell him thank you. But now my head was hurting.

Seto swam faster and faster. I really needed air sometime soon, my brain was getting wacky and so was my consciousness too. There was a loud splashing sound and it took me a couple moments to realize that we had reached the surface where there was oxygen. I could finally breathe. Seto looked down at me, his face was mixed and torn with worry.

"Mokuba, are you alright?" Seto asked, trying to talk loud enough over the waves. I opened my mouth to reply, but a wave came up and came crashing down on us. We were forced back into the ocean once more, twisting and turning in all directions. I felt a strong hold take me once more and pull me back up to the air that I so desperately needed. Water was beginning to clog my throat. Seto tried speaking again.

"I'll get you to safety Mokuba, stay with me," Seto said, more like a command then a comforting phrase. I tried to nod to let him know I understood, but my body felt all too heavy. It was like my head had been disconnected from everything. I started to lose track of where we were or what was going on and slip into a state of deliria. My eye lids began to feel heavy.

Seto pushed and pulled to get us to the shore up ahead. I felt this really was it. We were really going to die. I looked up at Seto, feeling an immense urge to tell him something I had been holding back. My greatest sin and deepest regret, I felt it was my duty as his brother to inform him before we died together at sea.

"Nii-sama…" I said in a quiet voice, not even sure if he could hear me, "I have to tell you something…" To my surprise, Seto had actually heard me. He continued to look ahead and focus on swimming to safety, but he still replied.

"What is it Mokuba?" I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. Seto shook me a bit and tried to keep me awake, "Come on Mokuba, stay with me. What's wrong? Talk to me, don't bail on me now."

"I have to tell you… that… at Duelist Kingdom… Pegasus-" A wave came and broke right onto us. We were tossed once more into the depths of the water, our bodies thrown around as if we were nothing. Not only was my mind drifting in all directions, but now I was dizzy too. But even through-out the horrific tossing and turning of the ocean, Seto's arm still remained around me to keep me safe.

At some point we had re-surfaced once more. I heard Seto's voice echo in the distance, which was odd because I was pretty sure I was right beside him. Or was I? I wasn't sure anymore if I was drifting off to sea or not.

"Mokuba… Wake up… Don't go…" I opened my eyes once more and was surprised and thankful to see a shore up ahead.

"Nii-sama, I have to…"

"Sh… it'll be alright, save your energy…" Seto's voice seemed so calming, I could do nothing but obey his words. I turned my head slightly to look into his face as we were finally pushed onto shore and he began to drag me into a nearby cave. He was panting continuously, but he refused to give up until we had reached shelter.

"Nii-sama…" I said, I wanted to thank him. But… my eyes began to slowly close just as he had laid me down and collapsed close by. I glanced over at him, his eyes had already fallen shut. I did the same and finally felt my body go to rest just as Seto's had. I would drift into a series of wonder and despair…

**-S-**

"Uh…" I felt myself moan. My head felt like it was spinning and my body wasn't far from feeling the same way. I rolled over onto my side and opened my eyes slightly. My body felt so heavy and weak… but I was alive. I looked all around without moving as I started to recall everything that had happened. The story seemed to reveal itself backwards.

I was in a cave, and before that, I was swimming through an ocean, and before that, Mokuba had fallen off a cliff. And even before that… we had been trapped in a virtual world by some green haired punk who was out to get me. Yes… I was beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation all at once. Then my mind went back to the cliff and then I became worried. Where was Mokuba?

I sat up immediately and shook my head, trying to wake myself up. It would take a while to get my body to fully function again, but for the most part I was awake. I looked around the dry cave, searching for Mokuba. I felt relieved when I spotted Mokuba on the other side of the cave. But then I saw something more, there was another figure kneeling beside him.

I heard a small whimper come from Mokuba, as he started to come back to reality. But I wasn't focused on that, for I was concluding that there was some sort of man in armor, whose hand was on Mokuba's head. Mokuba groaned with pain and shifted his body as he began to wake up. The minute I spotted a sword hung on the man's side, things became clear and I realized I had to act.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" I yelled with uncontrollable anger and fear as I sprinted forward. The man looked up and jumped back, flipping out the sword that had been concealed in it's case.

"Woah, chill out psycho man!" The person yelled back. This was around the same time that my opponent was no man, but a woman with short hair. No matter what gender the person was, I did not plan to stand around while someone attempted to hurt Mokuba. I stood beside him in a protective position, ready to fight the woman's sword, even though I was clearly unarmed. Mokuba sat up.

"Nii-sama… what's going on?" Mokuba asked in a dazed voice as he rubbed his head. My fists were in the air and my fighting stance remained the same.

"It's nothing to worry about, there's just another virtual adversaries sent by Noah to kill us. I bet it's one of the Big 5... They seem to have taken the form of some sort of duel monster…" Mokuba got to his feet and stared at the woman in amazement. "Mokuba, stay back!" I commanded.

"Joan?" The woman lowered her sword and smiled.

"Hey little buddy, did you miss me?" I will admit I was… confused, to say the least, but my guard was still kept up and my fists held high.

"What's going on here?"

"Nii-sama, this is Joan, she's my…" I looked over at Mokuba, whom looked confused himself, "Friend." He finally said. I stared at this apparent Joan and put down my fists. My eyes were still glaring here down. "What are you doing here anyway, Joan?" Joan shrugged.

"I'm not really sure myself, cause this definitely doesn't look like the Shadow Realm. Too creative-looking. But what about you? What are you doing here? I was pretty sure I'd never see you again."

"There's a bit of a situation… you see, there's this guy that kind of trapped us in this virtual world and-"

"You got kidnapped AGAIN? Jeez, kid! Didn't you say you had some sort of older brother that's supposed to be taking care of you? Don't tell me he walked out on you again!" I felt a sudden feeling of shame and anger, but anger was more relevant as I stepped forward and crossed my arms. I coughed extremely loudly and grabbed hold of Joan's attention. Joan turned and looked at me without much concern.

"Whose the stuck up ass?" Mokuba gave an embarrassed smile.

"That's kind of my brother." Joan looked satisfied.

"Oh really? Well, maybe I can show the man what's what with my-" Joan was about to come at me with her sword but she stopped.

"Joan, no!" Joan looked over at Mokuba.

"What?" I was not fearful of this Joan anymore. But I did know that it would be best to get out of here while we still could. Joan might be seen as Mokuba's friend, but I was beginning to learn faster than everyone else that this virtual world worked best while working a person's human emotions. It was a good thing that I didn't have many to play on.

"Mokuba, we're getting out of here. Now." I walked over to grab his arm and lead him out, but he refused.

"Wait, Nii-sama, what about Joan?"

"I said we're leaving right now, without 'Joan'," My eyes narrowed, "If that is your real name." Joan glared at me back. I wasn't scared though. I inched over to Mokuba once more and this time really did grasp his arm with my hand. "Come on Mokuba, we should get out of here." Joan stepped forward.

"I'm coming with you."

"Are you really?" I asked, almost amused by her silly remark. Joan looked down at Mokuba like it was her duty to follow him. As if he had needed protection of some sort.

"Yes, and there's not a thing you can do about it." My grin went away. I was beginning to become rather annoyed with this person's attitude. Who was she to judge whether or not Mokuba needed to be protected? After all, he had me. No questions asked; I was the best one for the job. I opened my mouth to refuse her another time and threaten her, but Mokuba had stopped me.

"Nii-sama, let her come along. She won't do us any harm." Mokuba pulled away from me and began walking along side Joan as they exited the cave. I felt almost… forgotten, dismissed. Abandoned in some ways. How could this random woman have gained the respect and concern of Mokuba so fast? I tightened my fist by my side as I thought how I had lost most of those things. The most important being trust.

Something had happened on Pegasus's island, something that Mokuba wouldn't tell me about. Every day, it stung inside. And in moments like these… it was just another reminder of my failure. How could I possibly even command such obedience from Mokuba, after the incident I had let occur?

I decided in that moment that I would put aside my self loathing for the moment and look ahead. For there were bigger matters at hand; we were still stuck in a virtual world, there was still someone out there looking for revenge, and particularly looking to hurt me to get it. Now, on top of everything else, we had a duel monster and apparent ally, coming along with us. Even with all these issues at hand, my mind still felt that this 'Joan' was the most important issue at hand.

She couldn't be trusted and something had to be done.

* * *

**A/N:**_ So there you have it. Chapter 2. I still didn't feel all that strongly about this chapter either, but it's all still a little rocky right now. Don't worry, I feel the next chapter will be a bit more solid(even though I have nothing planned for the next chapter) But that just makes it all the more fun, am I right? Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the chapter all the same. Sorry if it felt like it was going on and on at times, or if it was just plain random or obnoxious at others. I hope you'll forgive me and trust me to do a better job next chapter. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3: A True Blue

Starlight Luster: Heck yes I brought back Joan! And I'm glad to hear that I made your day too. I liked that little graph you made in your last review; that was pretty nifty of you to make. I didn't go into much detail with entertaining issues, but I will soon enough, don't you worry. Thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah man, Joan is back and better then ever! I feel like it was a bit early to bring her back, but oh well. I think it works in the long run for what I have planned. Yeah, I feel like both my first chapters were awkward, but I think I really got a handle on that in this chapter. But anyhow, this is me rambling, and this is you wanting to read the chapter. Am I right or am I right? Thanks for the review!

InTheShadowOfSignificance: Hey! There's my favorite constructive reviewer! I was hoping you'd come back to me. How've you been? As you can see, I went and took your advice, so I thank you for the brilliant story title you gave me. That was great of you to do(I especially love it because it starts with a 'C' and ends rhyming with 'Captivity' so as you can see, my OCD-ness is very thankful) I felt a little odd about the air blowing/running part when I was writing it, but I think I did a much better job in this chapter. Oh, and now to respond to your second review, I'm really glad/surprised you liked how I did Mokuba's reactions. Cause seriously… I had no idea why I was writing him that way, and I didn't feel like I justified it. But I suppose I did in a way, so that's good. And it is true that Joan really won't be as great of a character in this story(cause I really don't think I'm putting much effort into her) But it'll all come together in the end, don't you worry. Kari never throws in useless characters just for the heck of it!(actually, I do… a lot. But not this time, I swear!) I incredibly disliked the first two chapters, but I think I finally got the first person stuff down for this chapter, so hopefully it shows. Thanks again for your reviews and good to have you back with us!

AmePiper: Okay, so right now I should be doing my AP Psychology extra credit work, because God knows I need it… but I can't help but reply to your review at 1 in the morning:] And I never really thought about that(Seto meeting people in the Shadow Realm and such) But at the same time, it's not something I feel like making up either, cause I feel like it just won't seem very plausible considering we don't have the back ground from the first story like we do with Joan. And you're crazy! My first two chapters were crap! Or at least my last one… the beginning of this one isn't great either… actually, I get pretty repetitive towards the end… but I'm going to stop playing writer's own self-critic and just going to let you read the story. Thanks for the review and enjoy!

Chapter 3: A True Blue

**-M-**

It was weird. I mean, seeing Joan again that is. I didn't think I'd ever see her again. At the same time… I didn't even think she really existed. The day I lost my soul, being sent to the Shadow Realm; all that stuff… it all just seemed pretty unbelievable. Not to mention having my brother shut me up every time I mentioned it. I wasn't sure that was the denial talking or just my brother's skepticism. Both were hard to tell apart.

"So short stuff, how ya been?" Joan asked, as we walked together side by side. I smiled.

"I've been good, er, well, aside from this whole being trapped in the virtual world thing. But you learn to get use to this kind of stuff, especially when you're me." Joan eyed me.

"What do you mean by that? What about being you?"

"Oh, well," I began, "You get used to being trapped after a while. I've been kidnapped probably… twice since I last saw you." Joan nearly fell over.

"Jeez! Twice already!? Someone needs to get a beeper for this kid or something!" Joan turned to Seto, and my smile disappeared. "And how many times has this kid nearly died? Do you even make an effort to keep him safe?" I feared the worse when I saw how mad Seto's face looked.

"Who says I have to explain myself to you? Mind your own business, woman. I don't know you and I don't trust you either. As far as I'm concerned, you're not even close to being a friend of mine." Joan crossed her arms.

"You're a charmer, aren't you? You seem like the kind of guy who needs some sense knocked into him."

"Is that a threat?" Joan stopped walking and turned around. She brought up her hands and began cracking her knuckles.

"Do you want it to be, blue eyes?" I quickly ran in between the two just as they were beginning to come together for battle. I held out my arms and tried to keep them a reasonable distance from one another.

"Guys! Wait! Come on, we're on the same side here!" Seto looked down on me with much doubt.

"Would you mind telling me again where exactly you know this person from?"

"I could tell you, we met in-" My eyes widened and I knew I had to do something too. Of course, this thoughts came to my mind all too quickly. For by the time I had even processed them, I had already tackled Joan to the ground. I looked up to find her glaring at me. Seto was standing behind me, already awaiting an excuse for my sudden outburst.

"Now what was that about? Is there something I should know about Mokuba?" Seto asked with his hands on his hips. Ug, I hated it when he started talking down to me like a little kid. Especially when he had those stern eyes, like he was my father or something. I rushed to get off Joan as quickly as possible and brushed myself off. When I looked back, Seto was still standing by and waiting for an answer.

"Well?" I had to think quickly. Knowing Seto, he would keep this up for hours, possibly even days. It reminded me of how long he had tried to find out about… I shook my head away from those thoughts and faced Seto. An excuse quickly came to mind.

"We met at a party." Seto raised one eyebrow. Joan was about to fall over once again from embarrassment.

"A party?"

"Yes."

"Mokuba, you look like you're half her age." Joan let out a laugh. I glared at her. "Not to mention she's dressed up like some sort of…"

"Duel monster?" Joan added.

"Joan!" I yelled. Seto stared at her, rubbing his chin as he examined her. The light bulb in his head must've gone off because then he turned to me with satisfaction.

"Yes… I do believe she is a duel monster, isn't she? So… how is it you met a duel monster at a party?" I turned away quickly and began walking.

"You know what? Forget it. Let's just keep moving." I knew Seto was angry, but there was nothing more that could be done. After all, how was I supposed to explain to him that I went to the Shadow Realm? Whatever, it couldn't be my biggest concern right now. We were stuck here for the time being, and it was probably good that Joan was coming along. After all, we were going to need all the help we could… I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me back. "Hey!"

"Mokuba, can I speak with you privately?" I looked up at Seto and glared. He had nearly scared me right there. I sighed.

"Fine, what is it?" I was randomly being dragged away once more by Seto, a couple feet away from Joan. I had somewhat of an idea of what this was going to be about.

"I don't think she should be coming with us. I don't trust her."

"You don't trust a lot of people Nii-sama, and I don't see the harm in her coming along. After all, she is my friend. Can't you take my word for it?" Seto didn't look convinced. Of course, what else would I have expected? Sometimes it was easier to not even try to explain the situation to him. In fact, that strategy was starting to sound pretty nice right about now.

"I don't want her coming along, and that's final." I shrugged and crossed my arms. I was about to protest when I heard Joan call us over from afar. She was yelling about some kind of floating door. The minute she had said the word, Seto and I had glanced at one another before running over. We stopped when we saw Joan standing in front of the door; her sword was drawn and was pointed out in front of her.

"Just… one… more…" Joan swiped her sword away and held it in the air, "Done." Seto and I walked over to find that she had carved the letter "J" on the wooden door. It also was drawn backwards. "I have left my mark," She chuckled, "Political activists are so funny."

"Well, I guess we should go in, right?" I moved closer to the door, when I was stopped by Seto's hand on my shoulder. I stopped and looked up.

"Let me open it," Seto stated. I nodded and backed away. He held out his hand and gripped the door knob within his hand. He actually looked… tense. I looked into his face to see if it was for real. And it was. But… what was he so nervous about? We weren't in any real danger; after all, this was just a virtual world. Right?

Then again, I have been wrong before. And by the way the light burst through the door just from a simple crack, I knew something was up. An expected thing happened next. A force from behind us threw us in, and we had been transported, it seemed, to another world. As I looked closer it started to look more like…

**-S-**

I gasped at the site in front of me. A wooden stairway curving at the side, a grand red carpet spread out across the floor, and the smell from the old mahogany wood that the house was mostly made out of. I couldn't believe it. "This is our step father's old house," I gasped. Mokuba was standing beside me, just as surprised as I was, but less shocked and… fearful.

"Wow, I didn't think I'd see this place again either. It's just one blast from the past after another." I was about to say something, when I saw two familiar boys, walking across the hall in front of us. Once again, it was younger versions of Mokuba and I. Hobson was walking in front of us, leading the way through the mysterious new home. I was looking just as determined as I had the day I had decided to challenge Gozaburo, while the younger Mokuba was trailing behind me, looking around with fear as he clung to the back of my shirt.

"That's right… this was the day we arrived at our step father's home." Mokuba wrapped his arms across his chest and shivered a bit.

"The thought still gives me a chill down my spine." The scene flashed once more, and we were in my old schooling room. My younger self was seated at the large desk, surrounding by all kinds of text books. A notebook was in front of my, and I was trying as hard as I could to take all the notes that I could, and stay awake at the same time. I found myself dozing off nearly every time; it was how most lessons went for me.

The schooling was always intense, and it seemed Hobson was always nearby to make my life hell and keep me in check. I despised that man with such a passion. He would always carry around a small pointer to whip me with whenever I was doing anything that didn't involve work. He would always look down upon me, projecting my step father's unkind words and unobtainable expectations he had for me.

Then we were standing in the dining room. Gozaburo, my step father, the demon of my life, was sitting at one end, while my younger self and Mokuba sitting at the other end. This was the only part of the day where I was ever really allowed to see Mokuba, and in a way, the only part I ever had time for. If I wasn't in my room studying, I was being put through a lesson, and if I wasn't doing that, I would be doing homework. And it was all Gozaburo's fault.

I was gritting my teeth so hard; I felt I could've cracked my own teeth if I had continued. Just seeing the man's face, living through the illusion that he was really there, it was almost unbearable. For the most part, I was strong, and had been able to cut off all real harm that the outside world could ever cause me. But here… in this cursed house, in the room with my step father, I felt feelings I had shut away a long time ago.

"So tell me Seto…" My step father began, taking up his fork and bringing it to his mouth, "What are your plans for the future? What is your vision when you inherit Kaiba Corp.?" My younger self already knew the answer to that. Mokuba and I had planned it long ago, back in the orphanage, when we had absolutely nothing except our dreams and desires. I knew exactly what I had wanted to say to my step father that night.

"I want to build Kaiba Land." Gozaburo nearly choked on the food in his mouth. His eyes shot up and back at me with such fury.

"Nii-sama wants to build a theme park with all kinds of games for all the orphans around the world," The younger Mokuba added with pride. If only he had picked up on Gozaburo's reaction, maybe he would've realized that wasn't the best thing to say. Gozaburo was the last person that would find games meaningful. And he certainly didn't see the pleasure in them like I did.

"That's stupid." My younger self got up from my sit and put my fist in the air, already willing to fight. I was such a defensive child back then. Willing to defend anything I believed in. "Games? I have never heard anything so absurd."

"It isn't stupid. Games purify the soul!" I stated.

"So what?" Gozaburo answered with such shame, "Can games make the world turn?" Gozaburo rose from his seat. My younger self had remained standing, glaring the older fool down. As I peered at myself, I was almost shocked to see the expression in my eyes. I was staring at my step father like I could beat him, like a challenge had been made, and I had the edge. I pondered how it was that made me appear so strong in his presence, when it was so obvious at other times that he was the reason I couldn't sleep at night; that the nightmares never seemed to stop when his face was in my mind.

"I want you to take over this company because I want you to be a ruler, I won't have my heir wasting his time playing games," Gozaburo called Hobson over to where he was standing, "Hobson, please confiscate all of the Seto's toys." Gozaburo turned back towards the younger me, "I won't let you touch your toys until you learn how to rule like a real leader. Like a true CEO of Kaiba Corp." Gozaburo didn't know what it meant to be a real leader, much less a true CEO, or even a decent man.

But the following night, even when it seemed all hope was lost, the virtual world revealed to me another defining moment in my life. One that would be almost as ground breaking in my heart as was the day I first met and beat Gozaburo. The scene switched, and showed my younger self collapsing onto the couch from total exhaustion. I don't remember any other time in my life when I was more tired. Gozaburo was willing to do whatever it took to train me to what he expected to be. And I suffered every second of the way.

Then there came a point where I felt it was too much to handle. I remember it all so clearly, that simply seeing me lying out on that red couch made the tiredness almost return to my body automatically upon seeing the image. I became very tense as I heard the door open. I felt relief sweep over me when it was Hobson who returned with a text book in hand. My eyes remained closed as he came over to where I was laying.

"Seto, I believe you left this book out. You should be more careful with it." The boy opened his eyes slightly and looked up at Hobson with little to no concern for the text book he had placed beside him on the couch.

"Okay Hobson…" The young boy mumbled, slowly sitting up. Hobson turned and began to leave.

"Remember, your next lesson starts in one hour. Don't be late." I growled with anger. All they ever cared about was work, and lessons, and studying. No one ever even concerned themselves with how I was feeling. Looking back, I was on the brink of destruction. There came a point where I felt I simply couldn't do it anymore… that maybe it was time to throw in the towel.

The younger version of me picked up the book and glared at it, tossing it to the side with anger. The last thing I had wanted to see was a text book, I was surrounded by text books all day long, and so the sight of one was just infuriating to see. But the boy turned back towards the book, finding that a couple of cards had fallen out of the book, along with a small folded up note.

"Dear Nii-sama, I thought this might be the pick me up you've been in need of. Remember, they can't take away everything, so please don't let them steal the most important treasure." I watched the small boy as he began flipping through the duel monster cards in his hands, watching the younger Seto's face light up with the quick glances at each one. But my hand stopped when I reached the last one, a drawn picture of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Mokuba and I stood completely still in the room, even as we watched my younger self walk out onto the balcony in front of us and look towards the stars. He was holding the small card in his hand so intently, as if it were some life line. In a way, it was. It had given me the purpose I needed to move forward.

"Some day I'll have the real Blue-Eyes…" That was the day I pledged to myself to collect all three Blue-Eyes, to work hard enough to own them all. But then things became dark all around us. The scene disappeared, and there was nothing surrounding us, except a small spotlight that seemed to glow from beneath us.

It was enough to make you wonder what more we were going to have to suffer through before we got out of this miserable place.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! It's Kari here with some consequences of my own! Like the very generic chapter title for this chapter… yeah, sorry about that. And the beginning of the chapter felt a little weak. But that might just be my opinion. Hopefully you guys don't feel like this story is moving way too fast, cause I kind of do. But I have some other plot elements I'm planning to add to the picture, not to mention all the epic scenes I'm going to have to add in here. Yeah, never mind about what I said earlier, there's no chance that this story is going to be too short. Hahaha, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4: Beauty and the Beast

Starlight Luster: Thanks so much for your review! It seriously made me happy, I loved the fact that my chapter made you squeal with happiness. That was just too sweet. I'm like that too, hahaha, gosh, thank you so much. Yeah, Joan and Seto… their like two peas in a pod. You're going to love this, hahaha. Thanks again!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I tend to have a couple spelling errors here and there. I really need to learn how to proof read my stuff. I love editing, but I hate editing my own stuff. It's like the most painful thing ever for meX.X Yeah, a lot of people didn't get the tackling part. It was just supposed to be a push down rawr tackle, not a semi-romantic tackle. And the mark thing was a political joke, I knew it would be kind of a stretch. A McCain fan carved a backwards J into another activist or something so I felt like putting that in. It was somewhat silly, I agree. I didn't think many people would get it. The title is in reference, really, to both of them to some extent. More Mokuba, then Seto really, but yeah. The fact that Mokuba hasn't told Seto what happened to him is really the core of the problems within their bond. It's just in so deep that they don't really realize it somewhat/don't want to realize it. Seto was surprised by his younger self's determination because he's just remembering how determined he was, and he's feeling like 'wow, I was so determined to do this, and yet, I didn't even foresee what would become of the end result' kind of thing. You are right, I do need to work on my descriptions. I'm always trying, hopefully I'm improving somewhat with each update. Anyways, thanks for the review!

Rena Redhead: I'm tempted not to reply to your review… just because you haven't reviewed the third chapter. RAWR! Just kidding, I shall anyway. It always surprises me the things you like about my chapter. You tend to pick up on the things that usually get overlooked by my other readers, like Seto's calming words and Seto's concern with Mokuba's safety rather than finding out the secret. I don't know, I like it… and it also leads me to believe that you're a spy. But that's another story. Hahaha, thanks again for your wonderful review! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4: Beauty and the Beast

**-M-**

I gasped and looked all around. What had just happened? Weren't we just in Gozaburo's house? Clapping could be heard echoing in the distance, and a spotlight much like what we had been standing in had lit up. The same kid that had trapped us here appeared standing over it, looking very pleased with the reactions on our faces.

"Ah, yes, you two are a sight for sore eyes," Noah said with sarcasm. He refrained from clapping and then put one of his hands on his hips, looking at Seto. "You had a pretty tough life, didn't you Seto?" Noah asked. I looked up at Seto to see what he would say, but he stayed strong.

"What the hell do you want with us, Noah? What are you trying to do?"

"I just wanted to refresh your memory a bit… I know you like to dig yourself into a hole of denial all the time, so I felt this would be a good chance to remind you of your past." Seto glared at him, lowering his head in a way that darkened his eyes from his bangs.

"What do you hope to gain from doing this?" Noah lifted his hand and held up his index finger.

"How about I ignore your question and ask you this…" Noah's eyes narrowed, "How was it that Gozaburo died on that dark night a long time ago?" I could feel Seto's body tense and I became frozen for a moment with the thought. Our step father… his death… it was a dark subject, and a scary one to remember. Especially considering had happened…

"What did you say?" Seto asked, trying to calm himself down. "How do you know about that?" Noah's eyes widened and his smile became more crazed then ever. I wanted to cling to my brother in that instant but refrained from doing so.

"You will be punished for what you have done, Seto…" Seto took a step forward.

"Who are you, Noah?" Noah gave a loud laugh.

"Just wait for the punishment with a pleasant heart… and until then…" Noah began to fade away into the darkness, "Enjoy the show." Seto and I began to fall through the ground and back onto the pathway in the forest.

"Hey, you guys came back. Where were you?"

"Somewhere I never want to be again"

"Oh, that one dungeon place again?" That wasn't the best thing to say. My body tensed and I glanced up at Seto to see how he reacted. He looked confused for the most part, but had a look that told me he would want to know more. This wasn't good. I tried making unnoticeable movements to get the message across, but she didn't seem to pick up.

"Dungeon place?" Seto asked.

"Yeah," Joan was staring at me oddly, she really wasn't getting the message, "He was on the island with the guy who had silver hair and-" I did the only thing I could do, pick up the closest rock I could find and chuck it at her. Luckily the rock just barely missed her head and bounced off of her shoulder. Now she looked more mad than confused.

"What was that for??" Joan asked, "Do you have problems with random violent outbursts? First you tackle me, and then you throw rocks at me. That's not normal kid, I hate to tell you, and that's not how you make friends." Either way, Seto had or was beginning to figure it out. He didn't look happy.

"She's talking about Duelist Kingdom, isn't she?"

"No! Not at all…"

"Why does she know about what happened on the island?" Joan was looking back and forth between Seto and me, confused. It was odd seeing this; last time I had encountered Joan she didn't seem this clueless. Was this because we weren't in the Shadow Realm anymore?

"By what happened, do you mean how he got beat-" I took up the next closest rock to me and held it up in the air in a threatening fashion.

"Do I need to throw another rock at you?!" Joan would've responded if Seto hadn't turned my way. I was hoping this wasn't going to be the intervention moment; I didn't want it to happen. At least not right now.

"Why does she know and I don't? I'm your brother, Mokuba, why would you trust her more than me?"

"Nii-sama, it's not like that at all. She doesn't know."

"She does know Mokuba, I'm not stupid. I demand to know how she can know, but I can't!" I wasn't going to be able to get out of this; that was clear. But what was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say in return? I wished Seto was a less stubborn person; it would've made this whole situation a lot less difficult.

"Guys, I'd hate to ruin this brotherly fight you got going here, but if I were you, I'd move."

"Why's that?" Seto spat back, not even looking Joan's way.

"Because if we don't; whatever that is will kill us first." Seto and I turned our heads at the same time and saw some sort of monster charging towards us. It resembled some sort of prehistoric creature, or some kind of turtle. It had a shell on its back and spikes coming out of the sides of the shell, as well as on the front of its head, and its eye were blood red. The monster was running on all fours, and it didn't look the least bit happy.

"We need to get out of here," Seto said, stating the obvious. Joan was already way ahead of him, running in the opposite direction of us. Seto grabbed me by the arm and dragged me as we took off running. I tried my best to keep up with him, always occasionally looking over my shoulder to see where the creature was. Unfortunately it had chosen to chase us instead of Joan, so it had become a race against death.

"Nii-sama, it's gaining on us!" I yelled, taking another look back over my shoulder. I was hoping he would tell me he had a plan soon, because the monster looked like it was starting to gain speed. I stared up at my brother in worry. "Nii-sama!"

"I've got a plan," Just the words I needed to hear, "Follow me." Like a spaceship, Seto had lifted off without warning and managed to jump onto a branch on a nearby tree. He held out his arm from below, "Grab my hand!" He commanded. I nodded and leapt forward, taking hold of his hand.

"It's coming closer!" I screamed.

"Don't worry, I've got you. I'm going to pull you up." Seto grasped the base of the tree and with the other hand held onto my arm tightly as he pulled me up. I had never been so happy to have a prodigy as my sibling in my entire life. I turned my head to see the frustrated look on the monster's face, but instead I felt an incredible pain shoot through my back. Seto's hand had slipped off my arm and I went flying.

I went spinning through-out the air, before crashing onto the ground hard. My body felt all out of order, and I was unable to keep myself steady. The world felt like it was spinning beneath me… what happened? I put my hand to my head and tried to regain my central balance.

The dizziness finally stopped after a few moments and I looked up. I was about to let out a cry, but I put my hand over my mouth and was able to stop myself. The creature was standing right in front of me, his eyes focused on only one thing and one thing alone. Me.

**-S-**

This wasn't good. This was not good. Although it was my nature to think logically in almost all situations, this was one of the few exceptions I had. My brother being in trouble would distort my sense of logic temporarily until his safety had been regained. That was why I had to act now, in whatever way possible.

"Mokuba!" I yelled, running along the branch before jumping as far as I could off the branch and in front of where Mokuba was on the ground. I faced the beast head on, I felt like a warrior or a gladiator of sorts. The only thing I needed was a weapon of some kind.

"Nii-sama, wait-"

"Mokuba, get out of here while you can. I'll distract him while you get away." This was starting to sound a little too much like a warrior movie but I had no time to think about that. I had to think of a way to distract this animal. I looked back and saw that Mokuba hadn't moved from where he was. "MOKUBA! I told you to run! Didn't you hear me?"

"I'm not going to let you get hurt!" I hated it when Mokuba tried to be the protective brother. The truth was, I was the older brother, so by nature's law, I had to be the protector. I wished Mokuba would see that sometimes.

I looked around on the ground, picking up the first rock I could find and chucking it as hard as I could at the beats in front of me. The rock flew through the air and hit him dead on in the eye. The monster roared in pain, jumping back a little from the blow. Mokuba was standing beside me now, and staring at me like I was a moron for doing such a thing.

"What do you think you're doing?! That's only going to make it madder!" I turned towards Mokuba.

"It was to distract him so you could get out of here, now do as I say and go!" The beast let out a battle cry and came charging forward. I grabbed Mokuba by the shirt and forcefully pushed him to the side and out of harm's way just before the beast struck. It titled its head down and hit me head on in the stomach. Its spikes had added an extra punch in its attack but the first thing I felt was the shock wave blast through my entire body just before I had been sent flying through the air.

The other pains in my body didn't quite become evident until my feeling of flying had stopped and I had skidded onto the ground. I rolled onto my back and tried to hold in my urge to scream. The pain was incredible, but my years of training by Gozaburo seemed to prove to be even more painful. I had been trained not to show pain, so any time I would experience it, I was to hold it in and say nothing.

I tried to breathe in air but my lungs seemed shot. I curled up into a ball, trying to gasp for air but finding it a hard to do. My body was naturally beginning to panic, but finally my logic had kicked back in. I calmed myself down and let my nose take in all the air I needed. But that was before the pain began to set in.

My stomach was throbbing in pain. I rolled onto my back and grabbed the ground beneath me. I hurt. I was hurting so bad. Worst yet, I was spiraling now. Why was everything so bright? I heard something coming near me. Was it the beast? My eyes were still sealed shut, and I had felt no need to open them. Something was close by. I opened one eye and saw Joan and Mokuba standing near me. Mokuba had dropped to his knees.

"Nii-sama! Are you okay??" Oh no, I had to get up. I couldn't let Mokuba see me in this condition. I couldn't let him think I was too week. I pushed myself up with my hands.

"I'm fine…" I grunted, gritting my teeth. I was in so much pain. I eyed Joan; her sword was drawn, which didn't make me feel better about the situation. I let out a low growl. "I thought you ran off, what are you doing back here? And why is your sword drawn? Do you plan to fight me?" Joan looked amused by my reactions. I hated it when people didn't take me seriously.

"ANSWER ME." I yelled. Mokuba jumped back. I slammed my fist onto the ground, "Well??"

"I'm not going to fight you, are you crazy? That thing almost killed you," Joan said before chuckling, "That was a stupid move on your part." I was getting so frustrated with this person. Who did she think she was?

"Oh, and I was suppose to stand by and watching that thing pummel Mokuba? And I think you want a fight. Get over here and I'll teach you a lesson." I moved onto my knees and rose to my feet. I was stepped forward to approach her, but immediately lost my sense of balance and fell down. I could hear Joan laughing now, I was about to explode. "What's so funny?!"

Joan knelt down beside my face, grabbing my cheek with her hand and pulling at my face like I was a small child. "Aw… big brother Seto is getting very angry."

"Get off me!"

"That's no way to talk to someone who just saved your brother."

"What?" I looked at Mokuba.

"It's true Nii-sama. That monster came to get me right after it hit you, and it would've got me too if Joan hadn't stepped in. She used her sword and, well… yeah. It won't be bothering us anymore." What? Joan had… saved Mokuba? She had done what I had failed to do originally? I was beginning to hate this character more and more as I got to know her. What was she after?

"Look, you can thank me later. Right now, we should probably find a place to hide. At this point, we can't be sure what else is out there." I glared at her. Who said she could be the leader of this? The situation didn't even involve her; Noah was after me in the end.

"Thanks but no thanks, Joan. I can handle this by myself."

"Oh really? You can barely walk. Just get over yourself and let me help you." Joan reached down and grabbed my hand to pull me up, and I graciously refused by pulling my arm away from her. Joan rolled her eyes. "You're a child, you know that?"

"I don't want your help, I don't need your help, and I want you to leave us alone. Go back to wherever you came from!"

"At least try to act like a sixteen year old. I mean, honestly, you're embarrassing yourself and Mokuba. What kind of big brother are you?" That was it. That was the finally straw. Suddenly, my physical strength had come back and my pain was out of my mind. I jumped back to my feet and lunged towards Joan. My hand shot out and grasped Joan's neck, my fingers tightened around it. There was a sudden silence all around.

"I'm not afraid to break your neck if I have to." Joan raised her eyebrow. Her smirk had disappeared, and her eyes were serious. At least she figured out that this wasn't a joke. But now she was looking down on me, as if I had only disappointed her more. I wanted to choke the life out of her, but I heard a small gasp from nearby and turned to see Mokuba staring at me. He was… afraid. He was afraid of me.

"Alright then, if you think you can; do it. I dare you to break my neck. Kill me." My eyes glanced back at Mokuba. He was still frightened, and after Joan's statement, he looked even more horrified. I was ashamed that she had forced me to sink so low. That she had made me scare the one person I had just tried to protect. My grip loosened and my body began to return to its pained state.

My legs gave out and I began to fall, but Joan had shifted her position so that my arm had been pulled around her neck. I hung by her side, unable to fight back or get away from her. I sighed in defeat, letting Joan secure my body in her hands and walk forward back towards the forest.

"That's what I thought," Joan said, "Come on Mokuba, let's go." Joan dragged me along, with Mokuba walking on the other wise, away from me. I let me head hang down, staring at the ground. What had come over me? I didn't know what to think of this place. The other question that came to mind was what Noah was planning to do next. What more could he possibly throw at us to pull my brother and I apart?

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello, hello my fellow readers and reviewers. Long time, no update, huh? My bad, sorry about that. You know how the story goes blah blah blah, school, blah blah blah, I was having a baby, blah blah blah, I was sleeping. Yeah, excuses are all the same, but I can't say I have a more creative one then; I have to apply to __college.__ But yes, onward to what I wanted to say. I was a little hesitant to write that last scene with Seto choking Joan, I felt like that was a little border line OOC, but I dunno. It came to mind and when I wrote it, it seemed okay. So hopefully that wasn't too out there. Anyhow, thanks for all the reviews and keep on rocking!_

_P.S: I also forgot to say sorry for the changing of the name of the creature/beast/monster thingy in the chapter. I don't know why, but it seemed weird to keep calling it one thing so I decided to change it up a couple times. Hopefully it didn't get annoying/confusing. Goodbye for real this time!_


	5. Chapter 5: Darkness Surrounds Us

MythCreatorWriter: One of these days I'll get into the motion of proofreading, I'm sure of it! Just not tonight… Cause I still technically have homework to do and it's almost midnight. I know, I'm one smart cookie. How am I ever going to get into college now? Anyhow, rawr rawr rawr, in character-ness, non-character-ness, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. But hey, thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter!

Starlight Luster: Nice! Squealing is good! I'm sure squealing prevents cancer too;) Anyways, thanks for your lovely review. Always bringing me the smiles, no doubt! Enjoy the chapter.

AmePiper: Don't worry about it, you're fine. Everyone gets busy sometimes. Like how I should be busy right now, but somehow I'm writing this chapter. I'm such a silly kid sometimes. I don't have much time myself, but I'm going to try and give you a well rounded review reply anyway. I like making a fool out of Seto; I feel like, at this point, it's got to be considered a hobby. I do it so damn much! Anyways, thanks for your reviews! They're wonderful.

Rena Redhead: Joan is annoyingly everything in this story. And she just seems to get more annoying in this chapter! Or less logical… I'm not sure which. Gosh, I should really be doing my homework… oh well, never hurt to die from lack of sleep. Did I mention I hate school? Oh yeah, you're review. Hahaha, my bad. Yeah, I;m sure they'll have enough time to dwell on Noah in the later chapters. I'm not even sure when that encounter will be happening, but whenever it does, it shall be epic! But yeah, as the ending statement, Joan makes everyone feel like an idiot. Hahaha, thanks for the review!

Chapter 5: Darkness Surrounds Us

**-M-**

We didn't walk for long this time, especially with Seto's inability to move for himself. Although I would admit that I didn't enjoy the fact that we had wandered right back into the forest that we seemed to always show up in after witnessing a seemingly painful memory. It gave me this feeling like we were going in circles and not really making any progress in moving forward.

Joan stopped nearby a large oak tree and prompted Seto up beside it. The minute she had released him, he had scowled at her and pushed her off whenever she would try and adjust him. I really hated how Seto was acting; he could be such a stubborn child when he wanted to be. It annoyed me.

I watched as Joan tried to examine Seto's wound, which proved to be awkward and funny all at the same time. Joan had tried lifting Seto's shirt off to take a look at the blow he received to his stomach, which caught Seto off surprise, and it might've even scared him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Seto asked in horror, thrusting his shirt back down and covering his body.

"I need to see what the damage is and if that thing's horn cut the skin or not," Joan attempted to pull up Seto's shirt once more, but Seto pulled away and fell over on his side, holding his shirt down.

"No way!"

"You're acting like a baby." Joan tried to reach in again, but Seto curled up into a tighter ball. I started laughing, I had never seen Seto act so childish before.

"No I'm not! You're acting like a child molester!" Joan glared at him.

"Yeah, except you're not a child and I'm not molesting you." Joan tried one last time, before giving up. Joan sighed loudly with frustration, "Fine, be that way. Don't come to me when you get an infection though." Seto rolled his eyes and push himself back up from the ground.

"Oh, like you know what an infection would even look like. Tell me, when did you graduate from medical school?" Joan walked over to another tree nearby by and sat by it, a couple feet away from where Seto and I were.

"Whatever, suit yourself." Seto tried to put on one of his 'I don't care if you're mad at me because I'm mad at you' face. I laughed a little bit more before walking over to Seto myself and tapping him on the shoulder. Seto looked up at me, disgruntled.

"What?"

"You sure you shouldn't let Joan take a look? I mean; what if you're hurt?" Seto rolled his eyes at me. He had a way of treating me a like a mindless child at the most random times.

"I'm fine, Mokuba, I don't see how any random duel monster can make any real assessment about my condition." Joan stirred from her resting place and eyed him.

"Are you always this annoyingly cocky or did something happen to you to make you act that way?" Joan responded. I thought she had dropped it, why did she keep trying to pick a fight? Women, I swear, I may never understand them.

"Look little miss Saint, I don't know why you're still hanging around but I suggest you shut your mouth and leave me alone. Really, it's not like you do anything useful." This was just another fight waiting to happen. I took a couple steps back, hoping that somehow I would be able to dodge their bullets as the battle began. Joan was becoming red with frustration.

"So saving your brother isn't useful? Is that what you're saying? Really, the boy should considering finding a new guardian." Joan got up from where she was sitting and began to walk off but not before giving Seto another glare. Seto didn't seem to mind, but I did. Joan leaving made me feel a little less safe in a way, so I called for her to come back.

"Joan, hold up. Don't go!" I yelled.

"Let her go, Mokuba. We're better off by ourselves anyway."

"Nii-sama, stop it. Joan's my friend, I don't want her to leave like that," I started running towards her, "Joan! Wait!" I reached out with my hand and grabbed her armored shoulder. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned towards me. There was this strange feeling that suddenly came over me, and all had become quiet.

"Hey Mokuba," Joan said with no emotion, but loud enough for Seto to hear even from where he was sitting, "Do you remember those dogs that came at you?" My eyes were wide, and my mouth began to quiver with fear. What was happening to me? What was going on? Joan reached down and pulled up the sleeve of my shirt, revealing one of the scars I had gotten from the event.

"If I were you, I'd watch my back. The world's out to get you." I was frozen, I couldn't move. Her hand was still gripping my arm and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Those dogs… I could still hear their barks; I could see their snarling teeth. They were going to come after me, they were thirsty for blood!

"Get OFF of my brother!" Seto yelled, pushing Joan off of me. I was instantly snapped out of my trance and came back to the real world just in time to see my brother and Joan at it once more. What was up with these two and their fights? And what the heck had just happened to me?

"It would be better if you just left, Joan, you're presence can't help us at this point in time." Seto was standing beside me, holding his body up by leaning against a nearby tree. Either way, he looked ready to fight, even if he was immobile at the moment.

"If that's what you have to make yourself believe to fall asleep at night, then so be it." Seto's eyes narrowed and he stared at her intently.

"I don't sleep," Seto stated in a dark tone. Joan shrugged and turned away once more.

"Suit yourself. See ya around Mokuba." I opened my mouth to call out to her again, but then the eerie feeling came back to me. Something was wrong. Flashes from my past started coming back to me out of my control. I saw dungeons and darkness, the tower, my escape and my epic fall to the ground. Then I saw Kemo… the look on his face was more frightening than the grin on Pegasus's face when he had assured me he would get those papers signed. When he had told me my brother was dead.

My legs started to shake and I started to loose feeling in them slowly. Seto suddenly had caught on to my odd behavior and was asking me what was wrong. His words only echoed in my mind, but I could no longer see him beside me. All I could see was the locket in my hand. Instead of him shaking me, all I could feel was the emptiness in my stomach, and the food that had been forced all across my face.

I had to be the most miserable looking thing I ever did see. I looked down and saw dried blood everywhere. The walls of the dungeon started to move, and then I saw the introductory video to the Shadow Realm. I fell through the hole and I had seen Joan once again.

I began to pull on my hair, shouting and screaming. What was happening to me? Why wouldn't this stop? I had trained myself to stop thinking about what had happened. I had been able to repress all memories from those days in captivity. Why were they coming back now? What was making this happen to me?

At some point I had completely lost balance and had fallen to the ground. I began to roll back and forth in a rhythmic motion, hoping it would stop the memories from coming back. Hoping my mind would finally be at piece, but instead I saw darkness.

**-S-**

I didn't know what was going on with him, but when he fell to the ground it seemed like my strength had returned to me and my wound had no longer hurt. I was on the ground beside my brother soon afterwards, placing my hands on him to keep him from rolling continuously. But he just kept screaming, then he began kicking and punching the air in all directions.

"Mokuba… Mokuba! Calm down!" I yelled, but it was no use. Mokuba was having some sort of episode, and it was apparent he couldn't hear me. Much less be aware of what was going on. I had to bring him back before he went completely mad. I had to bring him back to reality. I grabbed each of his hands and held them tightly in order to restrain him. He continued to try and fight me off.

"I'LL NEVER GIVE YOU KAIBA CORP. PEGASUS!" Mokuba yelled at the top of his lungs. I stopped and stared at him.

"Pegasus?"

"I don't care if you have to kill me, you'll never get me to sign those papers!" Mokuba yelled once more in a very high pitched tone. I winced at the sound, but the words themselves confused me. Why was Mokuba talking about Pegasus, and Kaiba Corp.? Could it be that this was some sort of… memory, from Duelist Kingdom?

"I'm not Pegasus, Mokuba, it's me. Your brother!" Mokuba tried to yank his right arm out of my grasp but I was too quick and re-tightened my hold on him. He was still thrashing about, I wonder if he was ever going to get tired. His legs were back in the air soon enough, unfortunately for me, he landed a kick right where I had gotten hit.

I released him immediately and fell backwards in pain. I had keeled over, holding my stomach before falling sideways onto the ground. That kid knew how to pack a kick when he was having an episode; that was for sure. I opened one eye and looked back at him. He continued to shake and shutter.

"Nii-sama…" Mokuba choked out, "Nii-sama, why haven't you come for me?" The pain from the previous attack disappeared and I looked back at him. I leaned onto my stomach and reached out towards the shaking child. I placed my hand on his arm, this time in a softer and more gentle manner.

"Mokuba… I'm right here… it's okay. It's going to be okay." Mokuba curled himself into a fetal position; whimpers could be heard from him.

"Why haven't you come for me…? You said you'd always be there for me. So why aren't you here? Why haven't you saved me from Pegasus??" My hand slowly lifted from Mokuba's arm and I sat up, staring at him bewildered. I suddenly knew what he was talking about. It was Duelist Kingdom. Mokuba was in some sort of state of mine where he was thinking he was in Duelist Kingdom again.

I gently took hold of the boy's upper body and pulled him over to my lap. I was shocked to see tears running down his face, the shaking had not ceased from his body, still. The soft whimpers could still be heard. My mind was running circles. Mokuba's words, his thoughts, it was all coming from what he had thought and felt back when he had been kidnapped from Pegasus. It was all started to make sense in my mind.

"Mokuba, it's going to be alright…" I said in a quiet voice, running my hand through his hair in a calming fashion, "I'm right here, you're safe."

"You didn't come for me Nii-sama…" I stopped when I noticed that Mokuba was no longer shaking and he was no longer in a mental state of confusion. He had regained control of his current state, he was normal again. Mokuba sat up and looked back at me with the coldest of eyes. "You let Pegasus kidnap me."

I shifted back at the tone of Mokuba's voice. What was going on with him? He had never sounded so angry and resentful in his life. What was happening? I tried to pull him back into a comforting hug, but he refused. He was really furious with me and I couldn't have been more confused.

"That's not true. You know I never would've let that happen."

"But you did, and that is what happened. You left me to die."

"I was confused Mokuba, I didn't know what I was doing at the time."

"So you decided to run away instead? That seemed like the logical thing to do?"  
"At the time, yes!" I was beginning to get very angry with the way Mokuba was acting. He was my younger brother, and although I was not technically his parent, he hadn't the privilege to talk to me in that way. The look in his eyes weren't friendly to look at either.

"I can't believe I actually thought you were going to come for me when I was in that dungeon! I can't believe I lived through all of that crap just for you!" Mokuba got up and tried to run away but I jumped back to my feet and grabbed him by the arm. Mokuba had started crying once again, although this time it was more like sobbing. It was more uncontrollable then before. It was painful to watch because I knew he was bawling on his own, and not under the influence of any other mental state.

"What happened on Duelist Kingdom, Mokuba?" I asked him in a serious tone. Mokuba continued to sob, my heart continued to break. But I had to know, I had to find out. There must be a way to fix what had happened, I just had to know who to punish. I had to make it up to Mokuba by knowing everything I had let them do to him in my absence. "WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?!" I found myself yelling without any real control over myself.

Mokuba could only cry harder. He had fallen back onto the ground, this time burying himself within his arm and hiding his face beneath his hair. I had let go at this point and all had become silent, except for Mokuba's cries. I was breathing hard, even though I had not done any real physical labor. I was breathing this way out of desperation, out of fear.

Whatever they had done to my younger brother on that island had left a dark mark on Mokuba that may never go away. To sit there, to know I had failed him, to see that there was a darker place that I couldn't save Mokuba from; it was scary. If there had ever been any moment in my life where failure was evident, this moment would be the archetype of those moments.

I had failed my brother in more ways than one, and it seemed there was nothing else I could do except sit on the ground and watch him drown in a pit of darkness alone.

* * *

**A/N:**_ I hope you all are happy. I didn't finish my psychology or math homework to go and finish this. I felt so bad about how long it was taking to update so I decided education was for losers and write this up. I suppose I'll just have to stay up even later and try to get that done some other time. Gosh, I feel bad, but oh well. I got two chapters done in one day! Anyhow, I feel kind of odd about this chapter. I mean, this was literally something that came out of nowhere. I didn't know what I wanted to do with this chapter, and somehow this came out. Hopefully however it did come out, I hope it came out well in some aspects. Thanks again for all your reviews! See ya later!_


	6. Chapter 6: Protection From All Anxiety

MythCreatorWriter: Oh my gosh, it feels like it's been an eternity since I've written a review reply!(and pretty much forever since I've written an actual chapter) Gosh… everything is so crazy though. Life is annoying, hopefully Christmas break will allow me to write some more though. But back to you and your lovely review… Happier endings… yeah, those are hard to come by, but Falling Short was somewhat of a success, so we'll soon find out! Unplanned is pretty much more than half my stories, hahaha. Anyways, thanks for your review and enjoy the chapter!

AmePiper: I'm really surprised so many people liked this chapter. I thought no one would like it because nothing really happens in it except for emotions/emotional break downs of sorts. I guess I was wrong then! My parents always tell me my stories are too plot oriented, so maybe I should try more chapters like the last chapter and make them more… emotionally intense. Agreed? Its okay, I'm busy too. I miss having time to write… but now I should have all the time in the world if I am able to socially cut myself off! It sounds sad, but I'm actually pretty excited. Anyway, thanks again for the review! Enjoy the chapter.

Kukki Boo: I think a lot of things up randomly. When I come up with a story, I think of the beginning and the end. Everything else is pretty much the equivalent of bull shitting or great enlightenment. Maybe even an epiphany or two. Hahaha, yeah… not going to lie, I wanna just screw education and get back to what I do best; writing fanfiction. But one more day and its Christmas break which means .WRITE. You know, I actually hate Christmas, but if it gives me a week off from school, I'll take whatever I can get. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 6: Protection From All Anxiety

**-M-**

I think everyone's felt this way, at least once in their life. That feeling that a person gets after crying what feels like nearly thirty percent of the water in their body. I felt that way. My eyes were puffy, and painfully dry. And my body… well, it was in worse shape. Actually, it was an odd feeling to have. My body was sore, and yet, I was fully aware I hadn't done any sort of exercise. I felt more sore and dehydrated then I ever had in my entire life.

I proceeded to push myself off the ground that appeared as though I had fallen asleep on, and looked around. I felt incredibly weak, a simple task of sitting up proved to be a hard task for me. Everything was quiet, all around. I could the faint sounds of birds chirping in the trees that surrounded me. There was a light breeze to calm my nerves. Then I saw him.

Seto was leaning against a tree not too far off from me. His arms were crossed, but lay limp in his lap. His head was dangling down; his bangs had fallen in such a way that his face was no longer seeable. I got up, shakily. The first time I had, my legs had instantly given out and I fell back onto the ground. But I got right back up again, and this time kept my balance as I walked towards him.

My legs were still shaking incredibly underneath me as I moved closer. What was wrong with me? The fact that my body was in such a terrible condition was a bit worrisome, but I carried on all the same. I was still a few feet away, when I toppled over my feet once more. I let out a grunt of pain, feeling the sudden urge to punch my own two legs for being so weak and unstable.

But I became aware of another presence, and the thoughts had ceased. My head turned up, and my eyes had instantly met with my brother's sitting across from me. His arms were still crossing and his body in a relaxed position, but his eyes remained focused on mine. It was the strangest thing, staring at my brother as I did right then. We were looking at each other directly, but it felt like there was some sort of gap between us. There was something blocking our way.

"Mokuba." Seto straightened himself out and got up. His eyes never left mine. They were almost determined to stay completely focused in a way that made it seem like if his eyes lost site of me, I would disappear. He wasn't willing to risk something like that, so there his gazed remained, fixed on mine.

I attempted to do the same as he did and finally get back on my feet, but still, my body wasn't ready. The moment I had stood up, my body felt weak again and fell forward. I shut my eyes preparing for impact, but instead I was caught and my fall had been refused. I opened my eyes and realized it was Seto whom was holding me up with my body dangling from his arms below.

Never in my life had I ever felt so… helpless. So powerless, to another human being's whim, but also… I felt lighter than a feather. The security in Seto's arms seemed to make me feel better about everything else that was occurring. Still, I wanted to know what was going on. Or better yet, what had happened to me to feel this way.

"Nii-"

"Hold on, Mokuba… I need you to keep quiet for a while, I need you to rest." Seto knelt down, and had changed from holding me above the ground to holding me in a loving hug. It was different, the way he was hugging me, Seto's entire body language was different. A lot of past issues seemed to no longer be relevant and at the moment he was just holding me like a mother would for their child. I kept quiet and let my body rest against him for the moment.

"Kiddo…" Seto said in a soft voice after a few moments. I believe my mind had drifted a bit, and I had fallen asleep at least for a little while. None of that matter though, since when I had awaken I was still in my brother's arms and the feel safety and security kept me from thinking any bad thoughts. "We have to keep moving. You ready to go?"

This was weird, hearing my brother talk in such a way. In these situations, Seto would take the role of leader and hold it like it was his honor, even if no one had wanted him to. He would take much pleasure in leading the pack, even if that meant going a little off course once and a while and getting blamed for it. But now… he was asking for my opinion. Me. He wanted to know how I felt. It was nice.

I gently pulled away.

"I'm ready," I stated. Seto helped me to my feet and it was a surprise to find that I could stand on my own again, maybe it was knowing that my brother would really stand by my side that helped my strength return, or just receiving those general actions that let me know that my brother really cared about me. I followed him as he led me back onto the same road we had traveled on through the forest.

"We have to stick together, Mokuba. It's the only way we can survive." Then, just like that, something clicked in my head. And I found myself confused and looking to my brother for answers to these questions coming to mind.

"What happened to me?" I asked, "And how did I end up falling asleep on the ground in such a crappy condition?" Seto didn't answer me, and suddenly all the magical and happy feelings that I had felt disappeared. Seto said nothing, he said absolutely nothing. And I had a feeling I knew why, I had a hunch that it was one of those things that it was something that would never be discussed and never brought up again. Much like how I felt about Duelist Kingdom and what had happened…

Then I froze. It must've been that. When I kept having those memories, I had that break down. I… I wasn't able to even think. I was just overcome by everything. I can't even remember anything past when the memories had first started coming. I must've become crazy.

"Where did Joan go?" I asked without warning or previous thought. With the return of my break down memories, I had also remembered what had sparked them. Joan was trying to leave. Or had she already left? Seto said nothing, and I felt the air grow thin with forbidden secrets. I swallowed hard and carried on; I didn't want to spark any sort of clash between us. We still had to get out of this place, and more important things to worry about at the time.

But it was still a weird thing to mull over as we continued walking together. It was almost like we both had secrets of our own, topics we wished to never discuss again. For me, it would always be the period of time I spent at Duelist Kingdom. And now, I suppose, it would be Joan leaving. Or maybe it was the break down that had occurred afterwards.

Either way, it was enough to make my stomach twist and turn with anxiety. It was going to be a long journey out of this place. I had a feeling it was going to get a lot worse before it would get any better.

**-S-**

Things went back to being awkward between us again. I hated it. I hated the idea that things would even get awkward between us; I was his brother for God's sake. But… it was just the way things were, the way things had to be. It was never supposed to be this way, but obviously I have failed him, failed my own little brother in more ways than one.

After the… incident, as I feel I must address it now in my mind, I realized how dangerous this place was. Maybe it hadn't been the virtual world that had messed with my brother's mind, but either way, I had to keep my guard up. Seeing him react in such a dramatic fashion, to crash so quickly mentally and emotionally, it scared me like I had never been scared before. Never had I seen Mokuba so overcome by anger and sorrow.

I had to do everything I can to protect. Yes, I had to get out of the virtual world, but it had become clear to me that protecting Mokuba would have to come first. I still didn't know who this Noah guy was, and still wasn't able to get my mind around him, but whoever he was, he was trying to tear my brother and I apart. That had become clear since the moment Joan came onto the scene.

My senses had become five times more alert. All I could think about was the look on Mokuba's face, and how much I desperately needed to get him out of this place. I didn't want to lose him. I really didn't want anything to come down to that. I would risk anything to make sure he would be okay at all costs.

"Look Nii-sama! Another door!" Mokuba called, running towards the door. I sprinted ahead of him and stopped him.

"Hold on Mokuba, we're not going to just rush in there and open the door. Maybe we should just keep walking."

"Keep walking? No way, since when did you become afraid of going through the portal?" I winced at the question being asked. I couldn't tell him why, I didn't want to. Mokuba was the only other human being that came close to truly understand who I really am, but in moments like these, it made me realize he was just a kid. Mokuba was just an innocent little kid.

"Come on Mokuba, let's just go," I said, moving around the door and expecting him to follow me.

"No way, we should go in." I turned around and saw him reaching out for the door. I shook my head and ran back towards him.

"Mokuba! No!" Mokuba opened the door and the flash of light came and took us through the portal. My hands had fallen onto Mokuba's shoulder, but my eyes were shut. At least I still had Mokuba with me; that was definitely a good thing. The brightness faded and we were allowed to open our eyes once more.

"Woah… what is this place?" I heard Mokuba asked. I straightened up and looked around. We were standing on the ledge of some sort of cliff, and down below, was rows and rows of trees as far as the eye could see. We were standing at the top of some sort of mountain, and I wasn't going to hold back; it was a beautiful sight. The wind was whipping against me, but it didn't seem to hurt.

The trees would rustle in the wind; their bright green leaves would give off an echo of rustling to be heard from below. Looking from side to side, other mountains could be seen, and patches of snow as well. I breathed in deeply the air surrounding us, it seemed so pure and clean. I looked down at my brother, who looked just as fascinated with the scene.

"Enjoying the sight, Kaiba brothers?" A voice said from behind us. I instantly twisted around. What stood before us appeared to be another duel monster. But this one wasn't Joan. No, this one was in the form of a Robotic Knight. My eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, I think you know who I am." The sound of his voice had clicked something in my head and it all became clear to me.

"Nesbitt, I knew you were the only one that would ever consider picking the Robotic Knight as your monster." Nesbitt gave a low chuckle.

"Silly Kaiba, if only your words could protect you from what is to come." I put myself into a defensive position. If it was a fight he wanted, it was a fight he was going to get. I was ready.

"Give me all you've got, Nesbitt, you don't scare me."

"Oh, I know that much, Kaiba. That's why I've chosen another opponent." His head shifted and turned more towards my side. I looked over and saw he was staring right back at Mokuba. Mokuba looked confused, and unsure as to what was being said. Before I could react, a duel disk appeared on his arm and Mokuba nearly fell over.

"What the-?" Mokuba was able to catch himself before he fell to the ground. He stood back up and looked down at his arm; it was obvious he was having a little trouble holding it up. "Man, this thing is heavy! How were you able to walk all around Battle City with this thing on?" I twisted back around towards Nesbitt without giving Mokuba an answer.

"Nesbitt! What is the meaning of this?? If you're going to fight anyone, it's going to be me!" Nesbitt shook his finger at me, scolding me as if I was a child. I growled with annoyance. I hated being looked down upon.

"I don't think so Kaiba, the rules say I'm allowed to pick any opponent I want, I have decided to choose Mokuba."

"But, I don't even duel. That's not fair!" Mokuba stated. It had become obvious that Nesbitt didn't care. That lowly snake of a being, the only reason he was choosing Mokuba as an opponent was because he knew he would be an easy win. But I wasn't going to just stand by and watch him destroy my brother in a duel.

"Fine then; if he's dueling, I'M dueling," I said, stepping forward.

"You can't do that!" Nesbitt replied.

"Oh really?" A duel disk appeared on my own arm and I flipped it open into place. "I'm guessing there was a little rule you decided to over look." Mokuba looked over at me as if to confirm I was serious. I was; and I was going to beat Nesbitt too, hopefully quick enough to insure that Mokuba wouldn't get too involved. Nesbitt flipped out his own duel disk.

"Alright then, let's do it. The Kaiba brothers against myself, now this is a real treat! I'll be sure to have fun with this one, Kaiba." He was talking in one of those voices that gave you the idea that he had something up his sleeve. I had a couple things up my sleeve too, and if all went accordingly, Mokuba would be out of harm's way in no time.

For right now, we would have to duel our way out of this one.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello my beloved readers! I'm so sorry that this had taken so long to get out. You'd be surprised how much school will make you want to-never mind, I'm sure you all know, actually. I didn't feel too strongly about the second half of this chapter, but I thought the first half was pretty snazzy. Not really sure though… anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that you're excited!(I mean, now that something is actually happening) Let's get ready to rumble!_


	7. Chapter 7: Taking the Challenge

AmePiper: OMG! Dude, I am such a fail. I just looked online and told me that I haven't updated this story in a month! That's so bad… gosh. Oh well, moving on… Thanks for your wonderful review lovely! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you one bit! Enjoy!

MythCreatorWriter: I like using interesting words from time to time. Yeah, I know, I'm very bad about being critical to myself, but I really can't help it. Thanks for your review though! I'm glad you approve of the emotion, twists, and turns I've decided to take with my story. I know it's taken forever to really get together and write, but hey, here it is and here I am, finishing it! Anyhow, thanks again for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Kukki Boo: Kukki! Kukki! Hi! I feel like I haven't written you a review reply in forever, how are you? And a very good job for your review, I loved it! Yeah, first person is a bit annoying at times, and how I've got it set up in my story (with two first person things going on) it kind of makes me feel like I'm writing two stories at once and is slightly annoying to do. But I've gotten to the 7th chapter, and I feel like I'm doing well. Thanks again for the review! Enjoy!

Rena Redhead: I watch you while you sleep. Just kidding! I just felt like starting off this review reply on a really creepy note. Gotcha! Hahaha. Its okay that you've been a little late with reviewing, I've been pretty much fail at reading and reviewing your stuff too. Your stuff is just so much more intense than mine, and you really can't just pick it up and read it, you gotta be in the right place at the right time and have the right mood, ya know? Or maybe I'm just crazy… yeah, let's go with that. I do feel complimented knowing you re-read my work, thanks! You really thought Mokuba's little episode was creepy? I thought it was actually pretty boring (possibly because I feel like I've written a bazillion scenes like that, but that might just be me) And guys don't communicate… ever. That's why it's so much fun to distort their feelings! Don't you agree? I'm surprised you felt Nesbitt had his own voice, cause really, I feel like all my bad guys sound the same in my stories (and after re-watching an episode or two with him in it, I found out he refers to himself as a robot and talks to everyone else like they're failure human beings… who'da known?) Anyhow, I better end this now before rambling any further. Thanks again for the fantastic reviews and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 7: Taking the Challenge

**-M-**

I never once thought in a million years I would be in this position. It's kind of funny actually, I had always felt that fear would always pass, but shame… it would remain with a person forever. I usually never get ashamed, but now I felt fear and shame mixed together and it gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

The duel disk on my arm felt heavy, and my legs had gone numb long ago. My eyes glanced over at my brother, whom had his game face on. Whenever my brother was in a duel, it was like; he became this completely different person. He would disconnect from all other things and only focus on the game at hand. His mind was in the playing field and no where else.

In a way, I admired my brother, for being able to focus so intently on one thing. It was really astonishing how he could live so much in the moment just by playing a simple card game. My brother had always been great at games. Any game he ever played, he would instantly master within minutes. Maybe it was part of his gamer side, or maybe it was just part of his child prodigy background.

Whatever it had to do with, all I knew was that I didn't have that. In fact, the only game I ever really became good at was Capsule Monsters. Many would think that would give me the ability to master Duel Monsters the same way… but that wasn't true… at all.

"What's the matter, young Kaiba? Getting cold feet already? We haven't even started the game yet," Nesbitt snickered. I gulped; I really wasn't ready to do this. I couldn't believe I made no attempt to get out of this sooner. This was gong to be bad.

"You okay, Mokuba?" My brother asked, glancing over at me. He looked ready to fight; in fact, he looked ready to fight a war. I couldn't let my brother know that I didn't feel the same way. I just had to get through this one duel without letting my brother down, or letting him know my true secret. That secret being… I wasn't good at Duel Monsters.

"Yeah, of course," I replied back, trying to sound confident. I had a feeling Nesbitt could see right through me, and right through my act. But I would just have to 'Fake it till I made it' as the saying would go, and do what I could to win this duel.

"First we'll start with choosing our own deck." Before I knew it, cards appeared floating in front of my face in rows and moving up. "You can pick whatever cards you want by touching the ones that float by. Remember to choose quickly and wisely, time is off the essence." With that in mind, I picked all the good cards I could. I wasn't sure if I had chosen wisely, but I didn't have the time to be able to figure it out either. Out of the corner of my eye, I was looking at Seto. He seemed so calm… so confident. It made me feel terrible, since I really felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

"Next, we will choose a monster from our decks to be our deck master. It is quite obvious that I have already chosen mine to be Robotic Knight." My mind went completely blank; a deck master? I turned my head to see what my brother was doing, but he seemed to have already caught on to what it might have been and was searching his deck quickly and efficiently.

"I choose Vampire Lord to be my deck master," Seto stated. The monster he had chosen appeared floating beside him, looking more vicious than ever. I hurriedly scanned my deck for anything worth while, hoping not to draw attention to myself. After a couple seconds of being unable to find anything, I picked out the first monster card and held it in the air.

"I choose-!" I looked up at my card, not even sure what I had picked, "Big Shield Gardna." The extremely buff monster appeared crouching beside me in mid-air. My eyes were fixated on it, bewildered that I had such a giant monster there to defend me. In a way, it made me feel a bit safer, even if I was in awe of its massiveness.

"Mokuba, are we ready to play?" Nesbitt asked, breaking me from my chance. I turned back towards him and tried to look tough.

"Of course, let's duel." Nesbitt held up his finger and shook it in my direction as if I were a little kid.

"Oh no, not yet. First I must explain the rules and the consequences."

"Explain all you want Nesbitt, it won't change the fact that we're going to thrash you in this duel." I looked once more at my brother. Seto came up with the most intimidating lines during a duel; it was like he was a character in an epic story. He didn't look the least bit scared either.

"The first order of business is no discussing strategies. You can work together, but you may not talk amongst one another or show each other your hand." I bit my lip. I didn't know how I was going to be able to duel now; Seto was the one who was the master at dueling, not I.

"Fine." I couldn't believe how absolutely sure Seto seemed. For the first time since we had chosen our decks, he had looked towards me. There wasn't a doubt in his mind; he truly believed we would be able to do this together even without advice or discussion. It made me even more afraid knowing I might let him down.

"Secondly, if you lose… I get to take your bodies."

"Are you done already?"

"Has our little Kaiba been keeping up?" Nesbitt brought the attention back over to me and I gulped.

"I know what we're doing, you don't have to baby me," I replied back. I was trying to go for my brother's feel for insults, but wasn't sure if it came out that way.

"Just follow my lead, Mokuba, and everything will be fine," My brother assured me. I wished I could believe him, but there was no turning back now.

"Let us begin. You'll each have 4000 life points, while I'll have 8000. How bout we have the little Kaiba start us off?" I nodded silently and drew my five cards, drawing an extra card as my draw. I stared at the cards, feeling completely lost. None of these cards seemed to look like they could work together, no combos to start the first move with. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was just going to have to deal with it and keep going.

"I place one card face down and set a monster in face down defense position. Then I'll end my turn." I felt so professional saying that. I turned to look at my brother again, to see if he approved of my move or not, but he was all business. Suddenly, his mind was all about the game and nothing else. I felt a little discouraged; on the battle field I was no longer seen as Seto's brother, but also his ally in battle. These relationships were different, and apparently made Seto more serious than I had seen him act with me before.

Not that I could blame him. After all, there was so much more on the line than with his past duels. It wasn't about winning his title back, now it was about saving ourselves and getting out of the virtual world.

**-S-**

In the world of dueling, it's hard to be able to concentrate on anything else outside of the game. If one was distracted, they wouldn't be able to duel efficiently. I, myself, had always trained myself to do that exact thing and made sure I wasn't ever distracted by anything besides the game.

Yes, Mokuba dueling on the playing field was a different situation, but I wasn't worried about him. If he had taken after me in anyway, he was sure to be able to master the game in seconds. After all, he had witnessed all my duels, which probably meant he had picked up a couple strategies or two along the way. We were going to beat Nesbitt in no time.

"My move!" I drew my first card and continued with my turn. "I'll set two cards face down and summon Vorse Raider to the field!" I put down the two cards and placed Vorse Raider on my duel disk. A holographic image of the monster appeared in front of me, and I looked to Nesbitt to see his reaction. He had none, but that was okay. I had plans of my own.

"Oh, I'm SOOOO scared!" Nesbitt said sarcastically.

"Just shut up and take your turn. I'm done."

"Fine by me!" Nesbitt said, drawing his card. He grinned and looked up. "First I'll play Nobleman of Cross-Out and remove Mokuba's face down monster off the field!" Mokuba's monster disappeared from the field, leaving Mokuba wide open. Even so, Nesbitt had nothing to attack with, so Mokuba's life points should be safe in the mean time. "And then I'll summon Giga Tech Wolf to the field!"

His monster didn't bother me, nor did it frighten me. My Vorse Raider was still more powerful than his Giga Tech Wolf; he must've had something else planned in that evil head of his. I mentally prepared myself for whatever move he was going to play next.

"Then I'll activate Nobleman of Cross-Out! Removing Mokuba's set monster from play without activating its effect." Mokuba's monster disappeared off the field in a flash, and suddenly his only line of defense was gone. I eyed the face down magic or trap card he also had on the field, thinking Mokuba most likely had a back up plan to protect himself using that.

"Scared?" Nesbitt asked, and then proceeded to laugh, holding up another card in the air, "The worst is yet to come, for I shall activate another magic card, Clockwork Night. This continuous magic card treats all of your monsters as machine-type monsters and lowers their attack by 500, while all of MY machine type monsters gain 500!" I gripped my fists. He was good, but I would do better.

"Alright then, I'm willing to lose the life points," I stated. This meant that my Vorse Raider only had 1400 attack points while his Giga Tech Wolf had 1700, but attacking me would only inflict 300 damage to my life points, which would be easy to come back from. Nesbitt was grinning, in this way that told me that I didn't have him figured out.

"Now why would I attack you when I could attack the life points of the defenseless one of the field?" Nesbitt turned to Mokuba, as did I. Mokuba looked from me to Nesbitt, and his face darkened. "Alright Giga Tech Wolf, attack Mokuba's life points directly!" I had a card I could use to protect Mokuba, but my eyes just kept looking at the face down card Mokuba had set on the field. I was almost sure he had something to defend himself with, any moment now he would be activating it.

But as Giga Tech Wolf began running across the field over to his side of the field, Mokuba made no attempt to stop him. It didn't even look like he was ready to activate a card. In fact… as I looked closer, I could see his face was frozen solid, like his heart had suddenly stopped and his body had gone cold. That was when I realized Mokuba had no way to protect himself, but it was too late.

Giga Tech Wolf lunged itself at Mokuba, it's mouth wide open just before it's jaw clamped onto Mokuba's shoulder. Mokuba's eyes went blank for a moment, and there was a flash of light. Mokuba was blown off his feet and onto the ground. I winced as I realized this had only been the first turn and already his life points were down to 2300. I watched him intently; Mokuba had never dueled with this kind of holographic technology, and I could only fear the worst.

"I hope I didn't hit you too hard, little one. Have you realized who you're dealing with now?" I gritted my teeth at Nesbitt's comment but kept my eyes on Mokuba. He slowly sat up and shakily got to his feet. Mokuba straightened himself out and tried to get back into the game, but I had a feeling that wasn't what was going on.

"Mokuba, are you okay?" I asked, eyeing him. Mokuba turned my way and forced himself to nod his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was just… a little new, was all. I'm okay." I could see right through his eyes, although in this position, I wished that I couldn't. Maybe the holographic technology was just freaking him out a bit, I was still confident that Mokuba had his own strategy going on in his head. After all, he was my brother. I imagined he had his own tricks up his sleeves.

I turned back to Nesbitt.

"It's going to take a lot more than a couple cheap moves to bring us down, Nesbitt."

"Aw, isn't that cute? The Kaiba Brothers are over confident. That's so adorable!" Nesbitt held out his index finger and pointed it towards us; he had one last move to use on us before he ended his turn. I held my hand behind my set cards, ready to activate one of them if necessary. I wouldn't let Mokuba take another hit like that again, if I could help it.

"I'm going to activate my deck master's special ability, which allows me to discard three cards and inflict 500 direct damage to both of your life points!" I bit my lip when I realized I had nothing on the field to protect me from an effect like that; our life points were sitting ducks. Two beams of light shot out from the Robotic Knight's eyes and hit us both straight in the stomach. I cringed a little from the blow, but my attention went straight back to Mokuba once more.

Mokuba was hunched over, his bangs concealed his face, and his body was shaking in a way that worried me.

"Mokuba… are you alright? You going to be okay?" Mokuba held up his hand to me and waved it, trying to make it seem like I was overacting. He slowly removed his hands from his stomach and looked over at me while he was still hunched over.

"I'm okay… really… I just need to-" Mokuba flinched a bit, and then relaxed himself, "I just need to get use to this, that's all." I turned back to Nesbitt and narrowed my eyes. This was going to be harder than I thought, and now I was worried. Mokuba's life points had already gone down to 1800. If Mokuba didn't start playing his cards right, we were both going to lose.

At this point, failure could not be an option.

* * *

**A/N:** _I know what you're thinking… 'WHERE IN THE HELL DID YOU GO?!' Well, I thought that too. But let's face it… I hate writing duels. And I think every writer who writes YGO would probably be able to say the same… it pretty much sucks. So that's the reason why it took my so FRIGGIN long to write and finish this chapter, and which will probably be my excuse for taking a while to write the next chapter too. But hopefully you guys haven't lost complete and total hope for me, and still somehow have nice things to say about this chapter. Hahahaha, thanks for reading!_

_P.S: OMG, IT'S BEEN A MONTH SINCE I'VE UPDATED THIS?! I've failed you all;.;_


	8. Chapter 8: Cruel and Unusual Card Games

MythCreatorWriter: Hahaha, I actually got a lot of reviews saying that a writer only fails when they've given up on their stories. So I do suppose I feel a little more accomplished. You have no idea how annoyingly hard it was to write this duel. No clue whatsoever. I'd ramble off about it, but I already did enough of that in the author's note, so I'd rather not waste your time. Yeah, sorry about that confusing part. It's so hard to keep track of everything in a story, I found myself writing about monsters that were already destroyed and having to re-write entire scenes as a result. It sucks! Gnar, I hate that Serenity duel… her failure knowledge makes me want to kill someone. I had to reference that duel a lot because of Nesbitt and, oh man, it really made me hate Serenity. Anyhow, thanks for the review!

Kukki Boo: Hahaha, Vampire Roland… I didn't even know what you were talking about, but it made me laugh all the same. Yeah, writing duels SUCK! (if you read my author's note at the end, you'll understand. I never want to do it again unless it's a duel that's already happened and I'm simply summarizing it) I'm pretty sure I'm the same ol' me, still writing stories, still obsessed with YGO. I think the only thing different is I've got a boyfriend now and somewhat of a social life too, which surprisingly hasn't cut in with my writing time (or has it?o.o maybe it has and I didn't know) Oh yeah, and I'm going to be 18 in a month. Back when I was 14, I told myself it was okay that I wrote fanfiction, but when I was older/when I turned 18, I would have to stop and most likely get a life. Now that I'm close to it… yeah, there's no way in hell I'm stopping. When life hands you lemons, SUMMON THE BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON TO DESTROY IT! Hahaha, that was random, but thanks so much for your review! Enjoy!

AmePiper: Dude, I hate WRITING duels. Reading and writing duels are the most painful things in the world, not to mention watching them. I have no idea how I put up with it half the time when I would watch it. Course you enjoyed it more! I took the duel and did what every fan of the show wishes Takahashi did; focus more on the social/emotional aspect of it! This is why I super loved your review to no end since you really made me feel like I did what I wanted to do and presented it well. So I'm proud of myself. And if babe's proud, everybody's proud!:D Lol, thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter!

Rena Redhead: Honey! You've been such a good reviewer today! It makes me feel like a poopy doo doo brain face. I love you! But onward to your sexy review… yeah, I feel pretty bad for you since I keep updating and you have to keep reviewing as a result. Oh, you know why I think its so uber hard for me to review your stories in a timely manner? I think it's because Custody is so epically awesome and the chapters are pretty long, so it takes me a super long time to be able to review and really grasp every aspect I liked of your story. So yeah… maybe now you'll forgive me… lol. Randomness. I'm glad I really got the message across and you were able to understand. I did have to think about that some since a lot of the cards I used were cards I had in my own deck and I was sure not everyone would know what they meant or how they worked. But anyhow, I better let you go and move on with the story now. Thanks again for your great review and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 8: Cruel and Unusual Card Games

**-M-**

I felt like everyone was watching me. I wasn't doing well in this duel, and I felt like there were a thousand people watching me fail. In reality, there were only two other people present; Nesbitt and my brother. Thinking of this, I wondered how Yugi or Joey was ever able to do this. They were always with their friends so when they dueled, there was always a crowd.

And what if they were sucking, what if it just wasn't their day? How were they able to continue knowing everyone was watching them? I could really only think of Joey when this came to mind, since Joey usually never had a duel go his way. I immediately felt bad about referring to Joey as a bad duelist, but I couldn't feel bad for long.

"Are you going to take your turn, or what? I'm about ready to skip you," Nesbitt said, annoyed.

"Shut up Nesbitt; let the boy go at his own pace." I sighed with relief. Seto always had my back, and thank god. I was going to need something to encourage me. It was almost like Seto had read my mind because the next thing he said was, "Come on Mokuba, you can do it. I believe in you." I just hoped I wouldn't let him down.

I drew my next card, and had a stroke of genius, thinking I could use it to my advantage.

"First, I'll activate the card I set last turn, which was Pot of Greed," I said, clicking the button and then drawing two cards. Nesbitt looked bored and rolled his eyes.

"That took you long enough." I ignored his comment and continued.

"Then I'll set two more cards facedown and summon Lady of Faith onto the field in defense mode." I glanced over at Seto for reassurance and then looked back down at my hand. He looked neither pleased nor disappointed; he was too busy planning his next move, most likely. I sighed. "I'll end my turn." Seto nodded and turned back to Nesbitt.

"Alright Nesbitt, it's my turn now!" Seto drew a card. I began to drift into the deep corners of my own mind, pondering my next moves, and anticipating my fate. But maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to beat this guy. Or at least hold my own. I wanted to smack my face for being so stupid. I really wished I had paid more attention to Seto's duels; then maybe I would have a better idea of what combos to use and what cards to choose.

"And I'll end my turn." I came back to reality just as I realized something had happened in the duel. I looked down at the field and saw that Seto had summoned Gemini Elf to the field in attack mode.

"Seto, don't you remember? Because of the effect of Clockwork Night, your once powerful Gemini Elf's attack points go all the way down to 1400, making it weaker than my Giga Tech Wolf," Nesbitt shrugged, and drew his card for his turn, "But oh well, I suppose you'll have to learn the hard way." Nesbitt held up his next card in the air.

"Now I shall-!"

"Not so fast," Seto said, clicking one of his set cards and activating them, "I activate Shadow Spell on your Giga Tech Wolf. This stops it from attacking, changing position, and lowers its attack power by 700 points." Nesbitt didn't look the least bit afraid, in fact, he actually looked quite calm.

"I'll activate Trap Jammer in response to that." Seto's trap card was destroyed and off the field before it could even be used. "Now, may I continue my turn?" There was nothing else Seto could do, he had to let Nesbitt continue.

"…Fine," Seto said reluctantly.

"Good, and for my next move, I will also activate Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding one card from my hand, I'm allowed to destroy one face-up monster on the field." Nesbitt pointed towards Seto's only line of defense, his Gemini Elf.

Seto's monster was destroyed in an instant, and suddenly the world seemed a little darker. I looked down at my pathetic Lady of Faith and wondered what on earth I was thinking when I summoned that. I couldn't even come up with a good monster to defend my brother.

"Did you think I had forgotten about you, Young Kaiba?" Nesbitt asked, forcing me to look up. I didn't like the look on his face; he already had another plan of action to hurt us. "I'll activate Ookazi, which inflicts 800 points of direct damage to Mokuba's life points!"

My eyes widened as a bunch of meteors suddenly appeared right over Nesbitt's head and suddenly started firing towards me. I held my arms up over my head and shut my eyes, preparing myself for impact. But nothing could stop the realistic feeling of the burning rocks colliding into my body. The force was so strong, I was sent off my feet and onto the ground.

My shoulder was the first to hit the ground, before rolling me in all sorts of direction until I finally skidded to a stop. My body was aching with pain, and I really didn't want to get up. I lay there for a moment, curled up in pain, and with my eyes squeezed shut. Those meteors… rocks… whatever they were… they felt so real. The burning sensation I had suffered still remained on the top layer of my skin. I felt like I was on fire, but I remained still.

"Mokuba?" I think I heard Seto say. I couldn't be sure though. But whoever had said it; helped me to come back to reality. I realized we were still in a duel; that our lives were still at stake, and no matter what, I had to keep fighting. I finally opened my eyes and made my attempts to get up.

"Aw, isn't that cute? The boy hasn't given up hope," I heard Nesbitt sneer. Gosh, I hate that guy so much in that moment. But I continued to push off the ground and get back on my feet. My attention first went right back to Seto, to see how he was looking at me. He looked worried, but worst of all… he looked, astonished. I didn't know what he was thinking and at that point, I didn't want to know.

"Mokuba…" I heard my brother say once more in a quiet voice so that I was the only one that could hear it just as I had walked back to where I originally stood. I turned his way once more, and his face looked more worried than ever. "Are you alright?" Seto began walking towards me, just before Nesbitt stopped him.

"Hey! Stay right where you are, Seto! We're dueling here."

"My brother's hurt! Let me just make sure-"

"Negative. I cannot allow you to assist him in anyway. Any action made to assist him will result in an automatic surrender on your part. So I would stay put if I were you." Seto growled and looked back at me. All I could think to myself was that I was failing him. I was failing him, and as a result, we would both lose the duel. "I believe it's still my turn," Nesbitt stated, letting us all know there was more to come.

I wasn't sure at that point how much more I could really handle.

**-S-**

I think that was the first time I had realized we were in trouble. I'm somewhat of a control freak, therefore I always have this obscure idea that I am in control of most situations I'm in. I know it's bad, but it helps keep me from self doubt half the time. I'm a fighter, and an orphan, if I don't believe in myself, no one else will. But when I saw Mokuba's face, when I really looked him in the eye, it finally clicked in my head that Mokuba didn't know what he was doing.

Or rather, he did… but he just didn't know the moves or combos needed to survive. I had assumed Mokuba had seen me duel so much that it would be natural to just play the game and do it well. But… that was my mistake, and it was a stupid mistake. Because if there's one thing I know about Mokuba, it's that he's not like me and I should never assume he is.

"Alright, now if we've all recovered from my magic card, I'd like to carry on with my turn." I snapped out of my own thoughts and turned back towards the playing field. I was mentally angry with myself for getting so easily distracted. If my focus is ruined, then the game would surely be lost. In a duel, I have to give it everything and all my attention or I will surely fail.

"I'll attack Seto's life points directly with my Giga Tech Wolf!" Nesbitt's monster came charging over to my side of the field and leaped in the air. Opening its jaw before hand, it clamped down on my shoulder and bit me hard. I winced as I began to feel my life points drain away. I took a step back and held my shoulder for a bit. Nesbitt smiled, "You just lost 1700 life points."

I was down to 1500 life points now; that wasn't good. Nesbitt hadn't lost any, and already Mokuba and I had started to go into the danger zone. Mokuba only had 1000 life points left to hold onto, and I wasn't sure how long those would last. But that was when I realized the bright side of the situation, and began to laugh.

Nesbitt eyed me as I was laughing. "And what's so funny? Do you enjoy having so little life points to count on?" I stopped laughing and smirked.

"No, but I do enjoy you having barely anything left in your hand. You don't have enough cards in your hand to activate your deck master's special ability, so our life points are safe for the most part." I hate the feeling where one thinks they have one advantage, only to have that feeling taken right away afterwards. Nesbitt was going to prove us wrong, I could tell.

"I'll activate the card I set on my last turn; Card of Sanctity, which requires each player to draw from their decks until we each have six cards in our hand." At this point, I was massively annoyed. I drew my cards angrily and regretfully, watching Nesbitt's face light up with joy. I knew what his next move would be, and I wasn't going to like it. "Now, I'll discard three cards from my hand to inflict 500 points of direct damage to each of you."

Once again, another glowing beam of light shot out from Robotic Knight and hit us straight on. I cringed when the beam of light impaled my stomach, but kept my balance and stood up. I remembered Mokuba and looked to my side. The boy was bent over now, his hands on his knees. He looked like he had just run a marathon and was gasping for air, but I knew that wasn't the case, because his face was pale and his body weak.

His life points were down to a mere 500… which meant he would only really have one move to be able to try and protect himself. But Mokuba looked so weak, I wasn't sure he'd be able to survive just one more turn with all this pressure. Mokuba had never dueled before, and especially not with holograms like these. All of the newness was finally starting to get to him.

"Lastly, I shall move my deck master, Robotic Knight, onto the field and attack Mokuba's poor excuse for a defense monster and wipe it off the field." Mokuba was still motionless, even when his monster was attacked and destroyed. Nesbitt seemed to be getting very much joy from this situation, and I hated him for it. My brother couldn't handle this any longer, he needed my help. "Your life points maybe safe now, but once I get my turn, you're finished. For now, it's your turn, Mokuba."

As Mokuba was taking his draw phase, I was contemplating how on earth we were going to get out of this one. I glanced at my hand for a moment. I had some good moves I could make, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be enough to save Mokuba's life points. I looked over at my deck master, Vampire Lord, and felt as though it would all have to come down to me sacrificing my own monster to defend Mokuba.

He was my younger brother, after all, and I was willing to throw away any duel to try and save him, even if that meant losing my body in the process. I couldn't let anyone hurt him.

Mokuba barely looked like he could stand on his own two feet, but yet he looked like he was ready to continue on with his turn. I couldn't stand it any longer; I had to do something quick. I opened my mouth to declare moving my deck master onto the field, when Mokuba started saying something else.

"I... shall now… remove my Lady of Faith and the Kuriboh that was destroyed last turn in order to special summon the Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End." My eyes widened with surprise and absolute shock as the almighty Chaos Emperor Dragon appeared onto the field. I got frightened when I remember Nesbitt might have a trap card or two to use against it, but saw that Nesbitt had nothing left to defend himself. Even with Clockwork Night's effect that lowered Chaos Emperor Dragon's attack points to 2500, it wasn't enough to save Nesbitt from the fate he brought upon himself.

"No… that's… how on earth…?" Mokuba took another step forward, his body was weak, but his eyes burned with the fire of a true warrior; of a true Kaiba. Mokuba stood up right, his arm with the duel disk attached was no longer held up in front of his face, but hung casually by his side as his other arm did. He looked completely relaxed and in control… because he knew he had won.

"Now… Chaos Emperor Dragon, attack Nesbitt's Robotic Knight!" Nesbitt cried out in fear just before the giant green dragon swooped down and attacked the Robotic Knight. The Robotic Knight was destroyed, burst into little holographic pieces, destroying Nesbitt completely since Robot Knight had been his deck master. Nesbitt had lost… Mokuba had defeated him.

The cards I had set as well as Nesbitt's Machine King had disappeared from the field. The duel disk had vanished from my arm as well, and the duel was over. Just like that, everything went back to normal again, as if nothing had even happened in the first place. I couldn't believe my eyes. My brother had defeated Nesbitt all by himself. In fact, he hadn't just defeated him, he had THRASHED him. I… was ashamed, to have ever thought Mokuba hadn't known what he was doing, ashamed that he had a plan the whole time.

I hadn't been so proud of the boy in my entire life. I was about to call over and congratulate him, when I noticed him started to fall forward. I jumped into action and ran over him, stretching out my arm. I caught him just before he could hit the ground and held him in my arm instead. I kneeled down and held him up, smiling proudly down at my little warrior.

"You did well, Mokuba. You did well." Mokuba opened one eye and smiled up at me; he was exhausted. His body must've been put through so much stress; the boy could barely open one eye. He lifted up his hand and changed it to a thumb up without saying anything. Then his arm went limp and he closed his eyes. He would be okay, he just needed some rest.

In most ways, my brother and I were different. But when it came down to the bitter end, Mokuba would the strength and skill to come out on top. A skill both he and I had gained and achieved after our parents had died and when we had survived whatever the cruel world had thrown at us from then on.

* * *

**A/N:** _OH MY GOSH. I FINISHED IT. Okay, so here's a little story for all of you wonderful readers. I started this chapter today, or, to be more precise, this morning. It's not been about 4 hours of literally working on this story and nothing else. I've never felt like I've lost my mind but so utterly happy at the same time like this before in my life. It's the strangest feeling. But yeah… I think there's one incorrect duel monster or trap card thingy, but I had to write, and re-write and paste so much stuff that… well… I think you guys can deal (I would seriously forget what I had written sometimes or what monsters were destroyed and have to re-write entire scenes because of it) But yeah, lots of effort in this chapter, but so glad this duel is over. I think I've rambled enough for now, thanks for reading!_


	9. Chapter 9: Another Goal in Mind

WhiteAsukalover: Aw, thank you! That kind review made up for the chapters you didn't review; that was so nice of you to say! Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter.

AmePiper: Hell yeah I made Mokuba win! I don't know about you, but all through-out the Noah arc, watching the duels and the events being played out, my one burning desire had been to have Mokuba duel. I mean, friggin Serenity duels in the virtual world! Mokuba doesn't?! Screw that! Hahaha, so yeah, I had to have that duel, and I most certainly had to have Mokuba win it all in the end! Thanks for all your sexiness and awesomeness (oh, and your review too!) Read and enjoy!

MythCreatorWriter: Thank you! I wish the creator would've been less of a fail and let Mokuba duel in the series! I was pretty pissed he didn't, which was why I had to have Mokuba duel at some point and win it. I didn't use to hate Serenity, and then I was referencing the duel with Nesbitt and it made me realize how much I hate her. Oh yeah, I remember that one blue-eyes line… but suddenly I forget it. Woah, anyhow, it doesn't matter, because I'm sure you want to read the chapter! And that rhymed, cool! Thanks for the review!

Kukki Boo: It's okay, that's the same with me. No one ever gets what I'm talking about, hahaha. It kind of makes me happy to think that people would be made at me if I stopped writing, just cause… well, it makes me feel important. I've written an original before; I'm in Lit Mag where all we do is write original stories. I suck at writing original stories off the top of my head, but if I have a prompt, I can come up with an awesome story. Hahaha, thanks for the good job thing for being older. I kinda found that funny. But anyhow, thanks for the review!

Rena Redhead: You know, it took everything in me not to go off on a rant about how Joey sucked. Like, for real, I really had to try. That's probably where one of the hours went into, fighting the urge to not write the rant. But anyhow, thanks for all the awesome things you say! You know I only feel like a good writer because you say such awesome descriptive/intelligent things about my writing, right? Seriously, and you're such a good writer for being able to write those awesome reviews. So give yourself a pat on the back, dude! Hahaha, I love you dude, and I hope you like the chapter!

Chapter 9: Another Goal in Mind

**-M-**

I don't have many memories of my father to recall, considering I was so young when he died. I have very few and hazy memories, really, to remember him by. But the one distinct memory I have of him is from spring afternoon stroll through the park. I had just woken up from a short nap and he was carrying me in his arms. He looked down on me and smiled.

It's a short memory, and that was all I have of it. But the memory came to mind when I awoke for the first time after the duel with Nesbitt. My eyes fluttered open, and it had taken me a while to realize I was in my brother's arm and had my head rested against his shoulder. When he had become aware that I was awake, he looked down on me and smiled.

It was the same smile my father had from my only concrete memory of him, which was why I stared at him back with a puzzled look. I never noticed how much Seto resembled our father until now.

"It's good to see you're awake," Seto said as he stopped walking.

"It's good to be awake?" I replied awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to properly respond to it, I was still a little out of it.

"Think you can walk or would you like me to carry you more?" I frowned at him, but in a happy way. I hopped out of his arms myself. I didn't like being looked down on as a child, even though we both knew Seto would always see me that way.

"Come on Nii-sama, I'm not a baby anymore," I said playfully, pushing his arms away when he tried to scoop me back up into his arms. Seto was smiling, and ruffling my hair like he always did when he was being affectionate.

"Oh Mokuba, you'll always be my baby brother," Seto said, squeezing my cheeks. I stuck my tongue out at him, and we both laughed. Then we started our walk again down the dirt path in the middle of the forest. We began talking.

"So where did you learn how to duel like that?" Seto asked, turning towards me. My face was beaming with pride, I could tell from the grin on my face.

"Who else? I've learned from the best, you know." Seto chuckled and nodded.

"That's true… but still. How did you manage to do that? I mean, was Chaos Emperor Dragon in your hand the entire time? Was everything that happened all according to plan?" I stopped for a moment, unsure what to say. The truth was; I didn't have a plan, but I did have Chaos Emperor Dragon in my hand the whole time. The only thing was… it wasn't until I read it during one of Seto's turns that I could use it.

Basically, I had won on dumb luck. But I couldn't tell my brother that.

"Yep, every single last bit." A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? Seto put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a side hug.

"That's my boy; I knew you had it in you." Seto and I continued talking about the duel for the next half hour or so. It was amazing how one card game could take a person's mind off of everything else that was going on. Not to mention it could help to distract anyone from the current problems they had with their sibling. It was like the Duelist Kingdom ordeal didn't even matter because we were so involved with our conversation involving our last duel.

In a way, it kind of made me realize why Seto must've loved the game so much. While a person is dueling, all they have time to think about is the duel itself, the next card they have to play. All a person can care about is winning the duel. And for a moment's time, one's mind is distracted from all their problems and duties. For one moment, they're having fun and playing a simple card game, that's it.

Maybe that was what Seto loved; being distracted, forgetting his problems. For Seto, dueling was the closest thing he had to really living in the moment and forgetting his past. I had never really seen it that way, but after dueling Nesbitt, I had finally come to that conclusion. That was how I knew that, even if Seto did some day defeat Yugi in a duel; that would never stop him from dueling or holding tournaments. There was so much more to my brother than meets the eye, and I was surprised to find that there were things about my brother I was just beginning to realize for myself.

Then we came to another door. We said nothing to one another, simply stared at it. We had opened so many doors; the idea of a random door in the middle of a forest was no longer shocking but normal in our eyes. I looked over at my brother to see his reaction and it was just as I expected; stone cold.

The topic of card games had become a thing of the past, and reality settled itself back into our situation.

Seto looked down at me. "Ready?" He asked. I nodded. I didn't actually know if I was ready, but decided to nod anyway. I wanted to go back to the conversation we were having before. I wanted to return to the topic we both loved and enjoyed. But there was no turning back now; Seto was approaching the door ahead. I quickly jogged ahead and caught up with him just as he began to twist the knob of the door.

We walked through the doorway and we were surprised to see that we were in an office. Seto looked the most caught off guard; we both hadn't been expecting to go somewhere familiar after the last location we had gone to.

"We're back at home, at Kaiba Corp." I stated aloud. Our eyes glanced around the room.

"This is my office," Seto said when he finally made the connection.

"This MY office," We heard an all too familiar voice say from behind Seto's big chair. We gasped and looked up ahead. We couldn't believe our eyes when the chair twisted around, revealing Gozaburo. Seto's eyes widened. "No one disturbs me here!" Gozaburo stated.

My initial feeling upon seeing this was to run. Ever since I was a kid, I had been trained to know that Gozaburo meant nothing good would come to me. So the sound of his voice, especially his authoritative voice, instinctively created that feeling of fear.

"I know that, but I'm sick of waiting to talk to you and I have something important to say." My eyes fell on the small boy standing a few feet away in front of us. I had been so shocked to hear Gozaburo, that I hadn't even anticipated seeing the virtual image of my brother.

"This must been another virtual scene from our past," I said, looking over at my brother. Seto seemed to remember it very well as he gave a low growl and was staring at his younger self intensely.

"I remember this. It was the day I finally gathered the courage to speak with Gozaburo face to face about my latest idea." Seto said grimly.

"Let me guess, this is about that stupid invention of yours, right? I already told you, kid; this company produces weapons, not toys!" Gozaburo yelled with annoyance. The younger Seto stepped forward and held his fist in the air as he looked Gozaburo directly in the eye.

I was surprised to see how brave my brother was acting as he was staring the monster of his nightmares face to face. Never in my life would I dare to defy Gozaburo's wishes, in fact, I would avoid all occasions where my opinion might be different from my step father's. He scared me too much, and it was exactly how Gozaburo wanted to be seen. But Seto…Seto was different.

Seto had a dream, a purpose; that he was willing to fight for. Even if it meant first advertising it to the man he hated and feared all his life.

**-S-**

"Do you know how long it took me to design those? You can't just dismiss them like that! You just don't want to admit that I invented something you never could!" The virtual image of my younger self yelled.

"That's enough!" Gozaburo's voice echoed in the room, he took up the papers in his hands and threw it in the boy's face. I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering the feeling of so much anger and frustrating when my step father threw those papers in my face like they were nothing more than trash. I had worked for many hours during many weeks to come up with those designs, and to perfect them enough to be shown to Gozaburo himself. He had barely even taken the time to glance at them.

"Kaiba Corp. doesn't make toys, it makes combat vehicles! Seto, if you're going to take over this company some day, you'll have to forget about games. I adopted you for a reason—to lean the family business. And this business is about crushing your enemies and rising to ultimate power!" Gozaburo yelled. The younger Seto couldn't believe what he was hearing, but I could.

"You're insane!" I heard my younger self cry out loud.

"Guards!" Gozaburo called. Two goons entered the room and grabbed the boy by his arms. "Take him away," Gozaburo commanded. The two men took the younger me away and out of the room. I twitched at the sight of watching myself go.

I would never forget that day. My step father had shot down my virtual gaming program, but what was even worse was that later on he had stolen my invention and passed it off as his own. I had never seen a snake sink lower in my life. I couldn't believe my step father would do that. Now I do, but back then, I had to learn the hard way.

The scene dissolved away, and once again, we were back on the dirt path. Upon seeing that memory, something had come to mind, and I suddenly became enraged.

"This forest… this whole world, this is from the same virtual technology that I invented. Some parts may be more advanced, the basic program is mine," I brought up my hand to my face and stared at it, "I just have to remember in the mean time that everything I see here is an illusion, because these memories are beginning to mess with my head." I closed my hand into a fist and brought it down to my side, staring up at the sky above.

"Noah. I don't know who you are, but I plan to find out! I know you can hear every single thing I say, so listen up. Because no matter whose helping you or what you do, I will find you and destroy you. You'll never succeed!" I yelled, "So if you resemble any kind of man, come out of hiding and face me!" I gritted my teeth and continued to look at the sky, waiting for some sort of response.

Mokuba had gone a few steps away from me. Sometimes I could frighten him when I was being threatening, and it was a good thing to. I had wanted Noah to know I was being serious, that I WAS going to crush him no matter what. After it became apparent Noah was going to continue being a coward, I stormed off down the path. Mokuba rushed after me and ran to catch up to me.

"Nii-sama! Wait up!" Mokuba called, running to my side. I didn't look his way. "Nii-sama, are you okay?" He asked, staring at me with concern.

"I'm fine Mokuba, I'm just angry. I better find this kid soon, or I may have to do something drastic." I wasn't even sure what measure I would take, but right then and there, I was about to blow up. I couldn't stand being trapped here; and worst yet, I couldn't stand not knowing my captor. I wanted to find Noah and bring him down in the worst way possible.

We continued on our way in silence for the next couple hours. I finally cooled off after a while, but it didn't make that burning desire to bring Noah down any less powerful. I had to focus on the goal from now on; I couldn't let anything else distract me. I needed to punish that kid for all that he had done.

Later on, we had come upon another door. I wasn't pleased or displeased to see it, but Mokuba seemed a little more hopeful than usual.

"I wonder if this will be the door that will get us out of this place." I walked ahead of him, and made sure to open the door myself. I still had to be on the look out and alert for whatever location Noah would put us if it wasn't the exit. We opened the door to a sandy beach in the middle of nowhere. We walked out together and looked around. There was an ocean nearby, and a sunset that colored the sky all sorts of shades of red, orange and yellow.

"I guess not," Mokuba replied, grimly.

"At least it's a change of scenery," I replied after giving a sigh, happy to be out of that damned forest at last. Mokuba ran up to the ocean and started waving his arms and legs about. I started walking along the shore of the beach.

"Are you serious? I don't want to be on some virtual beach! Or a virtual forest! Or virtual anything! I just want to get the heck out of here already!" Mokuba stopped moving about and sighed. He turned his head towards me and looked down in shame. "Sorry Nii-sama, I just had to let that out. This place… it's just starting to get to me."

"Don't let it," I said sternly, "You need to calm down, if you start to give in, then Noah will win." I looked back up at the sky in anger. "We're done playing you're little games, Noah. We're onto you. You think you can show us these images to tamper with our emotions, but I've got news for you, it'll take a lot more than that to bring us down! You don't know who you're dealing with!" I yelled.

Mokuba was beginning to lose faith that we'd be able to get out of here, and some part of me was feeling that too. But I was no longer looking to get out of here. At this point, all I wanted to do was have a face off with Noah and show him what happens when you mess with Seto Kaiba. After all that he's put us through, I would make him pay for every single last bit of this horrible experience.

I would make him pay dearly.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello again! I know, it's been a while since I've updated that third story of mine, but I'll get to it eventually. But aren't you all excited?! We're finally moving forward in the story! Well, we were always moving forward, but this chapter was more along the lines of the show, so now you have more of a feel of where we're at. I can't wait for, well, you know! The exciting parts of this arc line! You all know them, you all love them, and HiKari here is going to re-write them like you would never believe possible! Thanks again for all your reviews!_


	10. Chapter 10: Beware of the Under Toe

WhiteAsukalover: Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer, he's the demon on wheels!... Alright, now that that's over with, thanks for the review! I didn't know I had done a good job on really expressing how pissed Seto was, but I'm glad I did now! Thanks!

AmePiper: Hahaha, yeah… I remember looking at the episode and being excited to write it, but then when I finally came down to it… I dunno, I was a little embarrassed. But it was such a cute scene, SO I JUST HAD TO WRITE IT!:] Anyways, so… I'M SUPER EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. We're FINALLY starting to move along and it's going to be AWESOME! Thanks for the review!

SereneShadows: Oh, it's quite alright. I go through random phases where I update at the speed of light, and others where I don't, so it's hard to keep up with, I'm sure. I know, Mokuba dueling was pretty much the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, ever. In regards to your PM, I have read your fic and I'll prepare a review for it, hopefully, very soon! I'm so sorry for the delay. In the mean time, sit back, relax, enjoy the chapter, and thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I thought the last chapter went really well. A lot of that extra stuff I added in, the father realization and the comparison totally just came to me as I was writing it and I really liked it. I love having those random inspirations! I had another one in this chapter as well; I think you'll like it. Oh man, the show is about to get on the road! I'm so excited; I may start on the next chapter tonight! Thanks for the review and enjoy chapter 10!

Chapter 10: Beware of the Under Toe

**-M-**

After a while, a person could get use to that feeling of… well, how should I put it? The idea of being lost? A sense of hopelessness? The overwhelming feeling of confusion? Whatever emotions one might feel when being trapped in a virtual world by some random green-haired kid. In a way, a person can accept these feelings for what they are, and I think that was what I was feeling after a while. We were still walking along the beach, but I had taken a more casual approach.

I took off my shoes and socks and began walking barefoot in the sand, which is every person's favorite thing to do when they're on the beach. I didn't try talking to Seto, because I still wasn't sure if he had cooled off yet. Seto is the kind of person that you just have to leave alone sometimes; which is probably the reason why him and Yugi's gang would never work well together. They outwardly care too much, and always need to know what's up.

Not me… I just sort of, well, know. Seto's my older brother, there's really nothing more to it. I just know what's going on with him, and he doesn't have to say anything for me to get it.

So I left my brother alone and let him do his own thing as I would walk barefoot in the sand. Sometimes I would get overly excited, and start kicking sand in the air, or picking some up in my hand. Just doing whatever I could to really keep my mind at ease. The only thing a person had to worry about in the virtual world besides the Big 5 and losing your body is probably losing your sanity. Losing your sanity is up there in the high risk category.

"Mokuba, you're going to get sand in your hair." I stopped upon hearing my brother speak. I turned his way and looked at him.

"But Nii-sama, it's so much fun!" I replied back. I knew my brother would be okay with talking now that he had spoken first. That was the one indicator I had to tell if my brother was alright and ready to start communicating again.

Seto motioned me to come over to where he was standing. I sighed, dropping the sand I had in my hand, and walking over to where he was. He started messing his hands around in my hair, I could feel sand being shaken out of my hair. Seto frowned.

"Oh Mokuba, you already have a ton of sand in here."

"Sorry Nii-sama," I said, shrugging. Seto rolled his eyes. Seto attempted to get the rest of it for a good minute or so before giving my long hair one last shake before giving up. Seto patted me on the shoulder.

"Come on, we better keep moving." I nodded and ran up beside him to follow along. I started looking all around; my mind started pondering where we were or where we were supposed to be. I glanced at the sunset to my right and smiled.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I said in a quiet voice, hoping not to disturb Seto if he wasn't interested in talking. He turned his head and looked at the sunset himself. His unchanged expression melted a little with the sight of the sun.

"Yes… I do suppose it is." I turned towards my brother again.

"Nii-sama, how come we never go to the beach?" I asked out of the blue. Seto looked away from the sun and returned to looking in front of him.

"I don't like water," Seto said in a completely serious tone, "It's dangerous." I stopped walking for a moment and stared at him. He stopped as well after a few moments and turned back towards me. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Dangerous?" I said, trying to hold back a laugh, "Nii-sama, it's the ocean, there's nothing dangerous about it."

"Since when did you become an expert on the ocean?" I gasped.

"Woah, Nii-sama… are you… scared of the ocean?" I said, trying to hold back chuckles.

"No… no, it's nothing like that!" Seto said, looking away and concealing his face. I began to laugh and ran up to him.

"You do! Don't you?" This was too good to be true. My big brother, the warrior, the man that could stare Gozaburo right in the face without flinching, was afraid of the ocean. Suddenly I felt a little better about the many silly fears I had developed over the years.

"No I don't, now be quiet!" Seto protested, trying to hide his shame. But I could see right through his act; he was embarrassed!

"How come you never told me you were afraid of the ocean? Come on, I'll show you that it's perfectly harmless!" I said, grabbing his hand and trying to bring him towards the ocean. Seto wouldn't budge and pulled away.

"That's quite alright Mokuba; I think we should both keep going this way if we plan to get out of here." I dropped my shoes to the ground and rolled up my pant bottoms. "What are you doing?" Seto asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"If you won't come in and see that the ocean is fine, then I'll just have to show you myself."

"No… Mokuba, don't…" Seto said. I started walking towards the ocean, always looking back to see if Seto would finally give in and come in with me. "Mokuba, come on, you don't need to do this… let's just keep going." Seto looked uncomfortable, but it didn't look like he was going to budge either. I would just have to go in for myself.

"No way, I want to show you that the ocean is just fine…" I was about to jump in when my brother yelled.

"DON'T." My leg froze in mid-air, and I had almost fallen over from being unbalanced. I looked back at him.

"What?"

"Get back here this instant." I blinked for a moment, taken a bit off guard by my brother's scary-serious tone. "I mean it." I placed my foot back down and returned my balance. I looked from the ocean to my brother and I couldn't decide what to do. I had just wanted to show Seto that he didn't have to be afraid, just like he had done for me over the years. I thought maybe I could, in a way, be the big brother.

"But, I just wanted to-"

"You almost died." Seto looked away.

"What?"

"The first and only time we ever went to the beach, you almost drowned. It was with Dad, a year or so after Mom died. Dad wanted to do something fun; something to distract himself, so he took us to the beach. You were only four, and were playing in the water. I looked away for one second and suddenly the under toe had gotten you and pulled you out to sea.

"I didn't know what to do; I hadn't even seen it coming. That… was the worst part of it all. Not knowing it was going to happen, or when it was going to happen. When they pulled you back in, you weren't breathing and they were sure you were dead. I was terrified. A life guard ended up saving you and after that, I never let you go to another beach again." There was a silence.

I said nothing, rolled down my pants, picked up my shoes, and walked over to where my brother was standing. We started walking again, and all I could do was think to myself how strong my brother was. He didn't have fears, and if he did, it was only because he was afraid for me, because I was so weak. It didn't matter that I had won the last duel on my own, it didn't matter that I had survived Duelist Kingdom on my own because Seto would always be worried.

Seto knew I was too weak to survive on my own. Suddenly, I was starting to believe I was too weak as well.

**-S-**

"Look," I said, spotting something half buried in the sand nearby, "Over there." I walked towards it.

"What is it?" Mokuba asked, walking up from behind me. It was a television, and it was on. I knelt down in front of it, my eyes narrowed. "A television?" Noah appeared on the screen.

"Noah…" I said to myself quietly as I watched. Something was going on, I could tell. I watched the screen closely.

"Stop the duel this instant!" Noah yelled. I could heard Tea, even Wheeler, and possibly Yugi too in the back ground. The screen switched to, what appeared to be, a Judge Man. He had the voice of Johnson, one of my past associates. He was pleading for Noah to be on his side; he had always been spineless. I began to have an idea of what this would be about.

"I don't think so, Johnson, not after what you did."

"So, he is a cheater!" Wheeler proclaimed. I knew it. When Johnson had worked for me, he had always tried to find the easy way out. He would use any excuse he could to getting around doing the actual work, and he didn't care who would get in trouble for him. I became surprised I hadn't fired him earlier on in my career. Johnson was nothing but a scum bag.

"It's sad, but true," Noah said, that smug look on his face, "Johnson's a fraud; he's been cheating you from the very beginning. He's been using the virtual technology to change the outcome of your dice rolls." I mentally laughed inside when I saw this. First, it was because of Joey's surprised look and his out burst of anger. Anyone with eyes could've been able to tell that Johnson was nothing but a liar and a cheater. But no, Wheeler was too blind and stupid to see that.

The second reason I was laughing was because of Joey's poor decision in choosing cards that involved dice rolls to begin with. Dice rolling cards were useless in the long run, and couldn't be depended upon. They only relied on dumb luck, and every good duelist should know dumb luck won't always pull through for them. But I suppose this was just another thing Wheeler hadn't had the experience to realize yet.

"Noah, please don't do this! I can't stand living in this place, I need to get out of here!" I rolled my eyes. Johnson was such a whiner. I wasn't even sure why Noah hadn't wiped his memory out of the virtual database, it was clearly obvious that Johnson was nothing but a useless liar. At least Noah understood the decency of dueling and playing by the rules, unlike Johnson.

"That's enough. I brought you five into my world where I am the leader and you are my workers. You are to play by my rules and play them fairly. I hired you to bring down Seto Kaiba and his little friends, but if you cheat, then I can't prove that I am more deserving than him." I frowned and looked on.

"He thinks he's more deserving than me?" I said aloud, listening closer.

"For years, I've lived in Seto's shadow, trying to prove myself and show that I was fitter to run Kaiba Corp. than him. I think it's about time that I show Gozaburo Kaiba that he should've left the company to me!" My eyes widened and I gasped.

Gozaburo Kaiba? What did this kid have anything to do with my step father? Gozaburo had been dead for over five years. And what would Noah want to prove anything to that man anyway? What was his connection to my step father? I couldn't help but think this kid was not who he has let on to be. But then… who was he?

"What do you think Noah is talking about, Nii-sama?" Mokuba asked me. The television switched off by itself, and I stood there staring at it blankly.

"I'm not sure Mokuba, I just can't be sure. This makes me even more curious to find out who this kid really is, but now there's the question of how he relates to Gozaburo." I got up and started walking away from the television. I motioned for Mokuba to follow me. "We better keep moving, the closer we get to finding him, the faster we'll find out." Mokuba nodded in agreement and we continued out way down the sandy beach.

As we were walking, I couldn't help but find the same questions circling in my head over and over again. With this new addition of information, I became even more confused. But I think what was getting to me the most was the fact that he had mentioned Gozaburo, that he had spoke of him as if he had known him. How could Noah have known my step father? Who was Noah to that monster anyway?

If Gozaburo was about to be involved in this mystery, I knew things would have to get ugly. Gozaburo had to be the single worst man on the face of the planet, and I don't think there was another man I dreaded more than him. I suddenly became enraged that I still hadn't been able to figure out this mystery, and felt as though Noah, in some way, was trying to toy with my mind by bringing Gozaburo into the picture.

But it wasn't going to work. I knew the truth of the matter. And the truth was that Gozaburo was dead and gone. I was sure of it because I had seen it. I had watched that very man throw himself out of the window and come crashing down to his own death. It was a day I would never forget.

"Nii-sama! Look!" I was dragged out of my thoughts and looked up. I stared at it, just as I began to recall the place itself.

"That is Nesbitt's old Military Factory." I didn't give it another caring glance. It had always been a useless dump in my eyes. "I always hated that place, what a waste of money. I was glad to finally get rid of that dump the day I took over Kaiba Corp." I remember what a big deal Nesbitt had made about shutting down his factory, but it had been inevitable and quite frankly, useless. When I took over, we no longer had any use for weapons, so I had it taken down.

I looked up towards the sky and yelled, "You can't lead us around forever! We're not your dolls to play with, and when I find you, you'll never mess with anyone else again!" I stood there and waited, still half expected for Noah to make some sort of come back. But still, there was nothing. I didn't mind, Noah would pay in good time. Mokuba tugged on my shirt.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll find him, and we'll beat him too," Mokuba turned his head and looked towards the military factory in the distance, "Just like we beat Nesbitt. Together." I smiled. It was true, and that had been a glorious duel for us both, but mostly for Mokuba. He had proved so much to me in that last duel, I started beaming with pride once again.

Noah was somewhere out there, watching us, and probably laughing at us. But we would find him. I would travel a thousand beaches and nothing would stop me from getting him. And with my brother by my side, his newly discovered dueling skills in hand, we could do anything. And we would get ourselves out of here once and for all.

* * *

**A/N:** _Whose getting excited? Whose getting excited?? I'm getting excited! We're finally starting to get close to the part of the Noah arc we all love and adore. Not to mention a very cool and intense motorcycle scene. But don't let me be the one to give it away! I think I might actually start on that next chapter right now. I can't even wait for what's coming up next! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading!_


	11. Chapter 11: Threats and Regrets

MythCreatorWriter: I know what you mean. I really set up a different situation here, and I like the interaction that's coming out of all these between the two brothers. I'm really starting to like my own story, I think it's mainly because of some of the great, random flashback ideas I get from it. But that's just me rambling. I hope I wrote the motorcycle scene as epic as it was in the show. Didn't have a lot of time to write much of anything, these next couple scenes move fast! Thanks for the review!

SereneShadows: Thank you so very much for your comments! And before I go into your review, I would like to say I'll reply back to your PM as soon as possible! Things are just, well, you know how they are, right? I'm glad you enjoyed my reviews though! I always enjoy your reviews, so it's nice to know I do the same for you. Thanks again for your great review! Enjoy the chapter.

AmePiper: RAWR. HERE IT IS. Motorcycle scene. Kidnapped Mokuba. The not Tristan-Nesbitt bit. And the soon to be brainwashing sequence! Really? You have a character named after me? OH YEAH. YOU DO! Woah, is that the same story from the bazillion months ago? I remember you PMing me and telling me about it… is that the same story, dude?0.o That's crazy! And impressive! You're awesome!:D Yeah, I'm doing a lot of things inside both these brothers' heads. It's kind of exciting! Anyway, thanks again for your wonderful review!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks a bunch! Everyone appears to really love that ocean fear scene/story. I actually really like it too. It was the oddest thing, it just came to me one night and I thought "Sure, let's make Seto afraid of the ocean. That sounds like fun!" That's literally what I thought when I first came up with the idea XD I am pretty jealous! Especially considering all the episodes I have left to cover and the annoyingness of the internet at other times x.x Thanks for the review again! Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Threats and Regrets

**-M-**

We were walking through a city now. Tall and long buildings were on both sides of us as we walked along the street. The sky over head was gray and not too inviting. Seto and I had barely spoken to each other in hours, with the exception of some useless small talk here and there, but nothing of any real importance. I could tell Seto's mind was preoccupied with something else, and I had an idea of what it could be.

If Noah wasn't a kid, I was almost positive that Seto would've been contemplating how he would murder Noah in his silence. There are some people who are capable of murder, and others who aren't. Seto was one of the people capable of killing someone if he really wanted to. For most people, that would surely frighten them. But for me, I knew that Seto, if it every really came down to it, he would only kill someone who was of equal or greater strength.

Which means that he would never intend to harm a child or any sort of person weaker than him, ever. Seto might have seen the justice system a bit more violently, but if there was one thing he believed in with all his heart was honor. Seto only believed in fair game and fair play, nothing more and nothing less. So in Noah's case… I was guessing he was thinking of a less violent approach of bringing the guy down.

Seto and I continued our way down the ally way. Seto's eyes suddenly shifted and he had stopped walking.

"Hello Kaiba." I looked up to see who it was that said that and spotted someone on top of a building a couple feet in front of us. My eyes focused and tried to get a better look. I smiled with recognition that the person was Tristan.

"It's Tristan! Thank goodness..." I said to myself with relief. It seemed like it had been years since we had encountered someone who wasn't out to try and take our bodies. This gave me hope that maybe the others were nearby; I had to ask and find out. "Where's the rest of the gang?" I yelled up to him.

Tristan stood there for a moment with a strange look on his face. I saw that he was holding some kind of bar or stick of some sort in his left hand. Before I could say anything more, Tristan lifted the weapon in his hand and launched off the side of the building towards us. I yelled with fright and jumped out of the way, just as he hurled the stick Seto's way.

I rolled over onto my side and jumped back to my feet. My eyes returned to my brother and Tristan, standing apart.

"Tristan! What's wrong with you?" Seto demanded, standing in a defensive position. I kept looking on and got the feeling that something wasn't right. Tristan had never done something like this in his life, and I began to pick up on a difference in his voice.

"I'm not Tristan and I'm here to get revenge."

"Who are you?" Seto asked in a low voice. Things were about to get ugly I'm sure.

"Your worst nightmare!" Tristan yelled, readying his blade again and leapt towards Seto. Seto quickly jumped back and missed Tristan's blow. Tristan swung again, but Seto pushed away once more. He twisted around and flung a card Tristan's way. Tristan blocked it with ease. He looked like he was about to attack again when he heard someone else call out to him.

"Look! It's Tristan!" I ran over to my brother just as he was distracted and hide behind him, quickly glancing down the side street and seeing Yugi and the others coming towards us. I had to admit, I was a little surprised to see them all here at one time. I thought we'd never find them again!

"Kaiba and Mokuba are there too!" Tea exclaimed happily.

"Tristan, I knew we'd find you!" Joey stated proudly.

"Are you alright?" Serenity asked.

"Why don't you kids run along? This doesn't concern any of you." It was around this time that Yugi and the others FINALLY figured out that Tristan wasn't actually Tristan. They talked amongst each other, discussing who it might be, but I had already known. I had heard that voice before, and I wasn't going to like it now. Because it was actually Nesbitt in Tristan's body. I gritted my teeth.

"What are you doing in Tristan's body, Nesbitt?" I demanded.

"Let's just say I defeated someone in a duel."

"What? But we-" Before I could say anything more, Nesbitt had lunged towards Seto again and swiped his blade in the air. Once more I had gotten myself out of the way to keep myself from getting hit, but it was my brother I was more worried about. Seto jumped to the side and grabbed a metal bar from the ground and held it out in Nesbitt's direction.

"Oh? Planning on fighting me?" Nesbitt smacked the metal bar right out of Seto's hands before Seto could block his attack. I watched as the metal bar went spinning off into the air. It made a loud sound when it crashed towards the ground, and Seto was left defenseless once again.

"Why are you doing this?" Seto demanded to know, taking another step back. Nesbitt still had his blade held out towards Seto; his eyes were filled with hate and anger.

"It's about time you paid the price for what you did to me," Nesbitt spat back, "Now say goodbye!" Just before he was going to attack once again, the oddest thing happened. Out of nowhere, a little robotic monkey flew through the air and attached itself to Nesbitt's face. I stood there, blinking and staring at the strange event that was playing out right in front of my eyes. Nesbitt began struggling to pull the monkey off of his face.

"Okay, that's it!" I heard someone else say. Just as Nesbitt had managed to pull the monkey off, Joey came at him like a ton of bricks and kicked him in the side. I watched with astonishment as Nesbitt bashed right into a wooden doorway and fell in. I had to be honest; I didn't know that Joey was that strong to begin with. I looked over at my brother to see what how he was taking all of this. He looked just as confused as I did.

Things were happening so fast, it was hard to know what was really going on. The only thing I was sure of was the fact that Nesbitt was out to hurt my brother.

Tea and Serenity had run over to the entrance of the darkened warehouse Nesbitt had fallen into when I looked back at the scene. The rest of us were standing around, unsure of what to expect when a small light came on from inside and there was a low rumbling to be heard. Both of the girls stood there, until suddenly Nesbitt shot out of it, riding a motorcycle. My eyes widened as I watched him glide through the air and was looking down on us when a smirk on his face.

"Nii-sama! Look out!" I called as I turned my head. I imagined he was coming after my brother, so I looked his way to see if he was safe. But just as I turned back, Nesbitt's hand reached out towards me and yanked me up by the shirt. I grabbed his wrist and tried to force myself out of his grip, but Nesbitt lifted his fist.

All it took was one punch to my face and everything went black.

**-S-**

"You took my factory and my job, so now I'm taking the one person whose precious most to you! Consider us even." Nesbitt said with a chuckle.

"NESBITT! GET BACK HERE!" I yelled. But it was no use; he had sped off down the tunnel up ahead. My eyes quickly shifted and I looked all over for something, anything to be able to use to catch up to him with. I spotted another motorcycle for the taking and took no time at all to turn it on and race after him.

Yugi and the others moved back when they heard me coming through, giving me enough room to speed into the tunnel for myself. I revved up the engine and attempted to go faster. All I could think of was in what way I was going to punish Nesbitt for this one. I wasn't going to let him run off with Mokuba, I couldn't let him get away with my brother. I continued going as fast as I could, but Nesbitt was still nowhere in sight. I still had to catch up to him.

'Don't worry Mokuba, I'm coming to get you. I'm going to save you,' I thought to myself, making a mental promise to my brother. I saw a light up ahead, which meant the tunnel was ending. I kept on target and raced through. I was on a bridge now on the outside. I looked up ahead and saw that the bridge was broken off. That wasn't good. That definitely wasn't good. I gritted my teeth and decided I would have to take a chance and jump it. I wasn't going to let my brother down.

I leaned forward onto the bike and took the motorcycle up to full speed. When I reached the edge, I pulled up to get a bit of a jump going. I stood up while in mid air, looking only down, past the water below, and over at the other half of the bridge ahead. I landed on the wheels off balanced, and could feel a loss of control beginning to take over.

With some quick thinking and a fast maneuvering, I twisted the motorcycle onto its side and jumped off. The motorcycle skidded a couple feet before bursting into flames. I landed on the ground safely and thankfully without much pain. I got up slowly and walked towards the raging flames of the busted motorcycle in front of me. I stared down at it, before noticing a darkened figure on the other side.

"Long time no see, Seto Kaiba." I glanced at the man, showing no fear. He was tall and dressed a bit differently, but I had other things on my mind. I didn't have time to deal with this guy. The man chuckled.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Has it really been that long? I have to say, I'm a bit offended that you don't remember me."

"That's enough! Where's my brother?! Where has Nesbitt taken him??" The man laughed once more. I was beginning to get angry. If there was one thing I hated, it was people who didn't give me information fast enough. I had to find Mokuba, and I wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Tell me!"

"If you ever want to see that brother of yours again, you'll have to get past me first!" I winced. I didn't have time to do this, but I had no choice. I would have to comply with this man's demands if I was ever going to find Mokuba again. "I've been waiting to take you down for a long time." The man was standing across from me and saying this like this was a threat.

It was anything but a threat. Whoever this guy was, he would have to get in line, because everyone wanted to bring me down. Only he was going to find himself in a world of trouble for keeping me from saving Mokuba. I would make him pay for that too. I would make them all pay.

"Bring it on," I replied.

**-M-**

Floating and flying are all the same when someone is surrounded by darkness, with that throbbing pain inside your skull. Someone had knocked me out, someone had knocked me down, and someone had kidnapped me. Even with the wind hitting my face twice as hard, I still felt so alone. So many thoughts and feelings that don't connect to each other come alive. And voices are heard all the while.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked. Many replies were said, I couldn't keep up or keep track.

"He took everything from me… pay back… but Sir!"

"Hand the boy to me." My body twitched unknowingly and fell to darkness once more. Hours past, days slipped by, and my mind could still be found in a whirlwind of darkness. But there was a light up ahead, and the heaviness in my heart started to lift. Consciousness returned, and normal thinking began to occur once more.

When I finally came to, I opened my eyes to a dark room with my body sprawled out on a green couch. I looked around, confused. Where in the world was I? I glanced around the room. There was a fire place, a coffee table… the place looked like a creepy living room of some sort. I sensed someone was nearby and sat up.

"It's good to see that you're awake," Noah appeared from the darkness across from me, and I inched away from him.

"It's you! Don't come any closer. When my brother finds out about what you've done, you'll be sorry!" And I meant it too. Not only was Noah on Seto's bad side, but kidnapping me was the last thing he would've wanted to do. I glared at him, hoping he would stay as far away from me as possible. It was him whom imprisoned us here.

"Your brother won't be able to do much of anything right now."

"What are you talking about??" I asked. Noah stepped off to the side as a screen came on from behind him.

"As you can tell, your brother is a little held up right now. He'll have to fight an associate of mine before he can even try to get to me." I stared up at the screen. Seto appeared on the screen, standing across from someone else.

"Nii-sama!" I called. Who was he fighting? I looked back over at Noah. I had a feeling when he said associate he meant someone from the Big 5. I was wondering which scum bag he hired this time to do Noah's fighting for him. It wouldn't matter, because Seto would take down all five of them if he had to, especially if my life was on the line.

I turned back to Noah. "You'll never win Noah! The minute my brother beats that corporate jerk, he'll be coming after you next!"

"You don't need to get so worked up about it, Mokuba, the show hasn't even started yet!" Noah proclaimed. I gave him a nasty look. I hated him so much already, and this was probably the first time I had ever actually been in the same room with him, all the other times he had been hiding behind Seto's virtual soft wear and had only shown himself to us as a hologram.

"The minute Seto beats that guy, you're going to really get it," I said. I felt like a coward saying it; the only threats I could come up with were ones of my brother. But I would've said anything to get this unnerving feeling I got from being in the same room with Noah to go away. Noah just smirked, he seemed like he was enjoying this tension between us. I hated him even more.

"Come now Mokuba, this isn't so bad is it?" Noah asked, "After all, it's not like I'm keeping you locked up in a dungeon of any sort." My heart stopped. My eyes widened.

"What?"

* * *

**A/N:** _Who loves cliff hangers? I love cliff hangers! And if you were all wondering, I was just referencing Kel right there! But anyway, so… OHMYGOSH! AREN'T YOU GUYS SUPER DUPER EXCITED?! I mean, yes, there's yet another silly duel we have to get through. But I swear I'm going to try and push through it as quickly and painlessly as possible. As you all know, a lot of important things come up, and like you just heard, some past issues may come up as well. Either way, this is going to be one kick ass story! I hope I didn't lessen any cool scenes in this chapter; there was a lot of action going on and not a lot of room for description! Thanks for reading!_

_P.S: Don't you guys love cliff hangers? :)_


	12. Chapter 12: Call Them Cowards

Sonny: Thanks for the review! Your nice words mean so much! I hope you enjoy the chapter.

MythCreatorWriter: It's not you who I'm worried about surviving the duel, it's meX.X But I think I'll be good to go on that, writing a lot of this wasn't that super painful. But damn, does this duel run on! Oh well, it'll all be worth it when we get to the next couple epic scenes. Believe me, we wish the creator did a lot of other things differently… we can start with exhibit A being… Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Lol. GX literally makes me want to smash my head into a wall. But that's a tale for another day. For now, thanks for your review, and enjoy the chapter!

WhiteAsukalover: I'll try to, hahaha! Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: I know, I'm sorry about my lack of rendezvous! Lifestyles are quite busy and sometimes sadful. But I'm not going to bring sadness into this because I've written a fantastic chapter that I think you'll adore! Yay for me portraying Noah well! That's always nice to hear. I can't believe you've written a 70 chapter long story though! That's like an epic right there! Haven't you been working on that story for, what? Four years now? Wow, that's awesome! I wonder how you would be able to finish such a story… I hope that snow has stopped by now! But until then, thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

SereneShadows: Thanks so much for being so nice to me! I really needed that today, your reviews were lovely! I hope you enjoyed my PM/it didn't take too long to get back to you on that. I best be going soon, but I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Rena Redhead: Sorry for updating, dear, I know how you hate when I update and you haven't been able to review yet. I just need to self esteem boost, and quite frankly, I felt the tone and theme of this chapter was too fitting. Sorry for being lame though, I hope you shall forgive me!

_I feel like I have one more thing to say before we started this chapter off. Earlier this morning, I saw some show called "First Look" on HBO about the movie 'Coraline'(which, by the way, looks like a really rad movie) They had lots of interviews and talked with people about the production. But what I found to be the most interesting was a quote I caught from the writer who wrote the book 'Coraline'. He said "When I was a kid, I use to think that bravery was not being scared in a certain situation. Now I know that bravery is all about being scared and still being able to face your fears and overcome the obstacles at the same time." Those aren't the exact words, but it's the basics of what I caught from his quote. I had this in mind when writing the second half of this chapter. _

Chapter 12: Call Them Cowards

**-S-**

No time for thinking, no time for breathing, all I could do was act. The man standing across from me, I had figured, wasn't a man at all. But what he actually was in reality was hard to put my finger on. I hated men who hid behind masks, or hid themselves away from the truth, I thought of them as cowards. He would continue to toy with me and my mind, when he would hide behind lies. But it was no use. I knew what this would all come down to. We were going to battle.

"You don't have any idea who you're dealing with, do you?" The man asked me. From the sound of his voice, I could tell who I was dealing with. That much I knew for sure.

"You're Lector, it's become obvious," I said with confidence. I held up my arm and activated my duel disk, "Now let's get this duel over with so I can defeat you." Lector held up his arm as well and snapped his fingers. Floating cards appeared beside his head.

"I was thinking the exact same thing," Lector said, "So choose the cards you wish to put in your deck and let us begin." Cards appeared floating beside my head as well. It wouldn't take me long to decide what I wanted in my deck; I already knew what I needed and what I would want. The virtual cards disappeared as a deck was formed in my duel disk.

"Now you must choose a monster to act as your deck master," Lector instructed. This would be another procedure that wouldn't take much time. I had a monster in mind already.

"I'll choose Lord of Dragons as my deck master!" I stated, holding the card out in front of me. The monster appeared floating in mid-air beside me.

"I have already taken the form of my deck master; want to guess which one it is?" Lector asked. I still wasn't able to figure out what kind of monster he could possibly be behind that disguise. But it wouldn't matter in the end, because I was going to defeat him no matter what.

"I don't know, and I don't care," I said, "I'm going to beat you either way, so you might as well spoil the surprise so we can begin this duel." Lector flipped out his own duel disk and held it out in front of himself.

"Very well then; it's time to duel!" Lector drew his hand as well as his first card. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and place two cards face-down and end my turn." I didn't hesitate to make my first move. I knew exactly what was on the line and knew there wasn't much time to waste.

"I play Spear Dragon in attack mode!" I said, placing my monster onto my duel disk. The blue dragon appeared in front of me, ready for battle at my command.

"Oh Seto, even if you did attack, my life points would be safe because my monster is in defense mode."

"Wrong Lector, because of Spear Dragon's ability, you lose life points even if you're monster is in defense mode. Somehow, I expected you to know this game better… now Spear Dragon, attack!" I commanded, pointed my finger towards the enemy. Spear Dragon flew up from the ground and opened its mouth. Its attack came spiraling out of its mouth and right at Lector's face down. The set monster was Hiro's Shadow Scout.

"You've not activated Hiro's Shadow Scout's special ability which forces you to draw three cards and discard the two magic cards you've just drawn."

"I think you're missing the point Lector because I don't really care, and you still lose life points either way because of Spear Dragon's effect." Lector's life points went from 4000 to 2600, which already put me in the lead. I looked down at my hand and announced that I was placing one card face-down and ending my turn. With the activation of my Crush Card, this duel would be over in no time.

"Before I begin my turn, I'll activate the card Solemn Wishes and draw. Solemn Wishes increases my life points by 500 each time I draw a card." This would make Lector's life points go back up to 3100. This didn't worry me one bit; in fact, I was hoping he would really enjoy those few life points, because this duel would be over soon. Then they would all pay for what they had done to Mokuba.

"I'll place one card in defense mode and also set one card face down. Now it's your move." This was a little bit strange. Lector must've been able to tell that my Spear Dragon would be forced to go into defense mode when it attacks, and because Spear Dragon had 0 defense points, this would make it an easy target. So why wouldn't he want to attack my monster? "Would you mind hurrying up and taking your turn? I'd like to defeat you as soon as possible so that I can take your body for myself."

"As if," I spat back, picking out one card from my hand and summoning it onto the field, "I summon Giant Germ onto the field and I also switch my Spear Dragon from defense mode to attack mode. Now Spear Dragon, destroy his face-down monster!"

"Not so fast, for I activate my trap card, Mask of Perplexity!" A mask appeared on the field in front of me, and a bright light shown all around. The mask looked seemingly harmless until it shot out towards me and attached to my face. I yelled in agony as it covered my entire face. I placed one hand on it, attempting to pull it off, but it was no use. It was stuck there, and no my vision had become weak. I could barely see the field in front of me!

"Now you won't be able to tell which monster you'll be destroying when you attack. So, who will it be? I doubt you'll be able to make the right choice with that mask impairing your vision." I looked all around, but everything practically looked the same. I saw a card face down and order my Spear Dragon to attack it. It looked like Lector's face down monster, but when the mask floated off my face, I saw it was my own monster, my Giant Germ! I watched as the floating pink monster exploded right in front of my eyes. I grinned.

"Looks like I hit right on target," Lector looked confused, but he wouldn't be for long, "I needed to destroy my Giant Germ in order to activate my Crush Card trap!" I clicked the button on my duel disk and the trap card revealed itself. Now Lector would have barely any monsters in his deck to play, and everything would go smoothly from there.

Just then, a small pink beam shot out from Lector's sunglasses and went right for my trap card. I covered my eyes as it hit and destroyed my all powerful trap card. When I took my arm down, I looked down at it, baffled. I stared back at Lector in surprise.

"How were you able to destroy my trap card like that? You must have the ability to destroy traps…" I had now realized what monster he was, "I get who you're deck master is now, you've taken the form of a Jinzo!" Lector pulled away his disguised and tossed it in the air, proving me correct. The monster stood apart from me, the all powerful Jinzo, with the ability to destroy all traps, rendering a quarter of my deck useless. This wasn't good, I hadn't anticipated this.

"You're right, Mister Kaiba! And with this monster's power, I'll defeat you and take your body!" Lector bellowed a loud and evil laugh. I looked down in shame; I should've been able to see something like that coming. "I've been waiting for this moment for far too long, Mister Kaiba. For years, I had seen you rise to power, a power that should have been mine!" I narrowed my eyes and titled my head down. I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this.

"As your step father's right hand man, I not only helped run Kaiba Corp., I also helped raise you." I wanted to object to his claim right then and there, but I knew Lector was going to keep going. The thing was; no one raised me, I raised myself. "And how did you repay me for doing that? By taking away everything I ever held dear to me!"

"How was it that I did that, Lector?" I asked, getting frustrated and annoyed. Lector held nothing dear to himself. Lector didn't even understand what it meant to care for someone; the only thing he ever cared about was money and his job.

"I would've been next in line to take over, but you had been forcing your way to the top. I'll never forgive you for that!" I felt I knew what instance he was talking about. The day Gozaburo had given me a challenge to prove myself to him, once and for all by giving me a lesson in the real world.

Gozaburo had entrusted me with ten million dollars. Gozaburo had explained to me that this was no gift, for he was landing me the money as a test. He gave me one year to repay the money, but ten times the amount of it. Gozaburo had me sign a contract promising that I would do just that as he explained that passing the test, would earn me the last name Kaiba. If I failed, Mokuba and I would have to return to the orphanage. What had I done? I accepted, as I had accepted every test Gozaburo had ever presented me with. And I went in with the same confidence too; that I was to win it all.

**-M-**

It was a strange thing, to watch my brother through a screen that seemed farther away than it actually was. It was an even scarier concept with Noah watching me and my every move. I could feel his judgmental eyes, always following my every reaction as my emotions moved with the duel. Truthfully it was quite creepy, but I didn't care. I would react and cheer on my brother through it all.

When my brother was winning; I was happy and egging him on, like I always would if I had been standing on the sidelines. When my brother was put in a hard spot, I would gasp and be afraid. I would worry for my brother and curse Lector for his seemingly illegal moves. Anything that put my brother in a tough position I disliked. And there Noah would stand, reacting with me, always opposite of my emotions.

And then it would come down to Lector's speech and a reminder from our past. I recalled the memories just as vividly as I'm sure Seto did. I had been present through-out most of his training, and it was the most remarkable time of my life. To watch my brother work the real world as a card game was remarkable.

At the time, I had thought turning ten million dollars into a hundred million dollars in only one year seemed impossible, practically inconceivable. But I should've known my brother better, because Seto always had a plan. He had told me the very thing had believed in the most—that business was nothing more than a game. Seto would explain it to me using cards.

Seto told me to pretend that each of the one hundred cards he had laid out in front of himself was a piece of a company. The trick of the business was to own more cards than anyone else. Seto explained the most crucial part of this business was that no one could ever own more than you if you held fifty-one out of a hundred.

And my brother had done just that. The following evening, Seto had instructed Lector to spend all ten million dollars to buy fifty-one percent of a company. It could be any kind of company, as long as they valued their workers. Lector had done so the very next day. I thought I had figured out Seto's plan; that he intended to make the money he needed from the company he bought. But the truth was that the company didn't make very much money at all, but somehow, Seto had seen a way to get the money he would need.

And Seto did exactly as he had said. Seto met with the president of the company and offered to sell him back the company at ten times the price. If the president wouldn't comply, Seto threatened to fire all his workers and shut the place down. To save his employees, the president had done the only thing he could do, which was agreed to the outrageous deal.

Just like that, Seto had earned all the money he needed and passed his test. It had been a learning experience for me, considering I had never seen my brother in action, much less how he had acted in the business world. It was the first time I had seen him, really seen him, in the many months that we had preoccupied the Kaiba Mansion. That was the first time that it had become apparent that Gozaburo had changed the brother I had once known.

As naïve as I was back then, I wasn't old enough to really be able to see what a monster business actually was. I didn't really think that this would be the first of many deals Seto would make in which he would rely solely upon a person's weaknesses and passions to force them into a deal they didn't want to make. Remembering this only brought forth bad feelings and past regrets I had managed to put behind me.

"One reason I feel I would be a better pick for Seto's role as president of Kaiba Corp. is because I know his job has changed the person who once was," Noah said out of the blue, while turning towards me, "Aren't I right?" I glared at him.

"How do you know so much about us?" Noah shrugged and acted as if he didn't know for himself.

"Well, when you have the technology to process one's memories, it becomes easy to learn about someone rather quickly."

"I suppose that explains all the simulations you presented us with," I said more to myself than to Noah, "Do you really think you can bring us down just by replaying all of our bad memories? Let me tell you this, Noah, it has and will take way more than a bunch of bad memories to hold us back. Don't you forget that we've actually LIVED through most of what you're showing us, so simply seeing it can't possibly have as much of an effect."

"Oh, is that true, Mokuba?" Noah asked with a slight bit more interest. He was staring at me with that evil grin of his, but I would stand tall and strong, just as my brother was in the duel I was watching on the screen.

"It is," I said, calmly.

"Something tells me that can't possibly be true for ALL of your memories… there are still a couple more I haven't revealed to you or Seto." I looked his way.

"And what are you referring to?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm referring to." A pinch of pain could be felt in my chest. A 360 was performed by my insides. A worry was welling in my head, one that had been present nearly the whole time we had been stuck in this virtual prison.

And like a coward I pretended I didn't know what he was talking about. Like a coward I avoided confrontation. Like a coward I concealed myself in lies to hide away from the truth.

My eyes went back to being glued to the TV screen and watching my brother duel, like nothing had even been said between Noah and me.

* * *

**A/N:** _Yay updates! Updates are nice, are they not? I think they are! So… this duel is REALLY LONG. Which is why Seto's half of the chapter went on for much longer than Mokuba's half was able to. I hope you guys aren't too annoyed by that, but I wanted to get as much of the duel under way so I could get it out of the way sooner! Not to mention Mokuba is barely seen in this part of the duel/episode I am re-writing. Don't worry, all the parts that Mokuba is actually in will be in, and hopefully there's going to be less dueling in the following episode, but we'll just have to see about that. But hey, thanks for reading! I'm not sure where you all live, but where I live it is a beautiful day, and I hope it's a beautiful and wonderful day for you all too!_

_P.S: The second to last paragraph was inspired by a short sentence in Rena Redhead's story, "Custody" which is, by the way, a fantastic story and one that all of you should read if you know/like Teen Titans/Batman/Superheroes from the DC Comic book realm in general! This one goes out to you, babe._


	13. Chapter 13: United We Stand

WhiteAsukalover: Oh my gosh! I hope you're as excited as I am! I mean, this chapter is on the okay side, but I already have the next chapter written up and I can barely wait to post it! Thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Awww, thanks so much about that duel writing comment! That's so awesome of you to say, especially since we all know duels eat away the soul one piece at a time. And OMG, you'll just have to find out! I'm so excited! Not for this chapter, but for the next chapter(which I already have written up!!!!) And, yeah, I hope everyone hurries up with reviewing so I can post it SUPER SOON. IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME. I'M SO EXCITED!(sorry, random explosion of excitement just now) Thanks for the review! And I actually like capsule monsters in this strange/weird way. It makes my insides giggle, lol.

SereneShadows: Thanks so much for your review! No, I totally get what you mean when you say I make Seto real. That's a real compliment right there! Thanks! In concern of the PM, no prob! I tend to write long messages, lol. I'm never sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm just happy to get my point across. And yes there is a way to do that! Basically copy and paste your story into a word document, do the changes, upload the story onto the server, go to content/chapters, and then you can do replace chapter, which I believe is at the bottom of that page. It's quite simple, and I think there's an info page that can guide you if you're still confused! If not, let me know and I'll write a step by step outline for you when I have time!:D Anything for a fellow writer and a darling fan! And I'm terribly sorry for spelling your name wrong Meranda. I actually like it better with an E because it reminds me of The Little Mermaid:] Keep it real and enjoy!

AmePiper: Hey babe! I know you didn't review the last chapter, but I decided you were too cool for school and included you anyway^^ After all, you are the apple of my eye! I hope you like this chapter, but more importantly, YOU SHOULD GET PUMPED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME. By the way, if you think of it, remind me in your review to add you into my author's note for the next chapter. You gave me the idea for one scene I have in there and I would be a FAILURE TO THE MAX if I didn't include the sexiness you brought to this story:] I love you lots and enjoy!

Chapter 13: United We Stand

**-S-**

I didn't get where Lector was trying to go with this. He kept going on and on about my past, telling me things I already knew, things I had already lived up to. I was beginning to get bored and was contemplating interrupting him if he didn't shut up soon. Finally, it seemed like Lector was coming to a close with his obnoxiously long speech.

"And then who got all the credit after you made all that money? You and only you received credit for making that money." I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I did, it was my idea. What did you expect? All you did was follow through with the orders I had given you," I paused for a moment before continuing, "In fact, that was all you were ever good for. You've never been capable of coming up with an idea for Kaiba Corp., which is why you'd never be fit to run my company." It was the truth. This idea, that Lector was the rightful heir to the Kaiba Corp. thrown? It was all just a fantasy Lector must've come up with in his head; even Gozaburo knew he wasn't fit to run the company.

"Oh, but Mister Kaiba, that's where you're wrong. Not only could I, but I will once I defeat you in this duel." Another roll of the eyes, and I decided to carry on with my monster's effect.

"As if… now, because my Giant Germ was destroyed, it activated its special effect which allows me to summon another Giant Germ to the field."

"Don't you realize you're only delaying the inevitable? Because of Jinzo's special ability, all of your trap cards are useless. And there's no way a person can win a duel with monsters alone." That's where Lector was wrong. Because if he truly knew who I was, he'd know that I'm not easily brought down by others.

"Lector, I'm going to say this once and only once; I'll never lose a duel to you," I stated proudly. And it was true. It would take a lot more than a quarter of my deck being held useless to defeat me. There was more of a title that went along with the name Seto Kaiba than people give me credit for. This was one of those situations.

"Oh believe me, you'll lose so much more than just this game," Lector drew one card from his hand as he began his turn, "Because of my Solemn Wishes card, I gain 500 life points for every card I draw from my deck. Then I place two cards face down." I got the cue that he was done and drew my own card from my deck. I barely glanced at it, before turning my eyes towards my monster.

"Spear Dragon, attack his face down monster!" I commanded. Spear Dragon opened his mouth and fired another typhoon at Lector's monster.

"I'd give you an A for effort, but it looks like you just activated my Cyber Jar's ability." I winced at the sight. I knew this monster's effect, and it wasn't pretty, "As a result, it destroys every monster on the field." I watched in distraught as one by one, each of the monsters on the field was destroyed. My Spear Dragon and Giant Germ, as well as Lector's own Cyber Jar disappeared. I was defenseless. But there was still hope.

"Now as you well know, the other part of Cyber Jar's effect is for both players to pick up five cards from their decks and summon any level four or lower monsters they draw to the field." I grinned when I saw that Vorse Raider and Twin-Headed Behemoth were one of the monsters I had drawn. When I looked up at his field, I saw a monster of his own facing me. "I summon Injection Fairy Lily to the field!"

"I may have lost life points last turn, but because I draw a card at the beginning of my turn, I gain 500 of those life points back." That gave him 2200 life points so far. At least I had been able to keep my life points safe, and it was some good luck that had given me some defense to protect me as well. "Now I activate Watch Tranquilizer! This magic card lowers the attack strength of your monsters one hundred points for each of its level stars!"

A dart shot out from the magic card Lector had just activated and hit my Vorse Raider. I winced again. Because Vorse Raider was a level four monsters, that meant it would lose 400 attack points and lower it to 1500. I looked back over at Lector's Injection Fairy Lily. It only had 400 attack points to account for, still making it weaker than both my monsters.

"I hope you didn't think I was done, Mister Kaiba, because I'm just getting started. And with that said, I'll activate my Injection Fairy Lily's special ability. By paying 2000 of my life points, I can increase Fairy Lily's attack power by 3000!" I narrowed my eyes. That brought her attack strength up to 3400. That wasn't good. "Now Injection Fairy Lily, attack!" The Injection Fairy Lily flew over to my Vorse Raider and attacked it. A huge explosion occurred, and I held my arm over my face to cover myself from the blow.

When I looked back down at my duel disk, I saw that I only had 1200 life points left.

"That's not all!" Lector announced, "I also activate my other face down magic card, Sebek's Blessing, which increases my life points by the amount that you just lost. Before I end my turn, I'll play one more monster in defense. Your move." His low life points was all I had left to hit him with, and now he was back up to having 2100 of them. I had to admit, Lector had planned his deck out well.

"Fine," I said, drawing one card from my deck. I stared at my hand for a very long time, my thoughts beginning to get the best of me. I thought back on my life, and the obstacles I had faced. In the end, I had always took every challenge life had presented me with head on and became the victor in the end. This duel would be no different. I would make sure of it. "I play one monster in defense mode."

"Is that all you've got? This may be easier than I thought. I'll activate Life Absorbing Machine in response to that. This little trap card increases my life points by half the amount I paid in my last turn." His life points had gone up… again! Now he was up to 3600, and all I had remaining was a mere 1200.

"Now, I'll sacrifice my face-down monster in order to summon my ultimate weapon!" The field in front of me began to glow as I looked down. A rocket or missile of some sort began to rise from the ground in front of me and shoot up into the air over head. The exhaust from the rockets swished by me, but I barely noticed. My eyes were locked onto the missile that had disappeared from site within seconds.

"What on earth…?" I stared bewildered as it left an exhaust trail in the air. I didn't know what to expect, and yet I could feel as though it was locking onto me even though it had completely left the atmosphere at this point. And it was ready to attack whenever Lector decided to press the 'Launch' button. I continued to stand still and stare up into the sky.

Now what?

**-M-**

The images on the screen seemed more alive and more real with every twist and turn of the duel. I would sit down, and find myself re-emerging back onto my feet only seconds later. At times, I thought I knew what my brother was doing, and at others… I didn't know what to think. I was worried and frightened for my brother.

Soon the calling of a third party could be heard on the screen. The camera view widened and it was apparent that Yugi and the gang had arrived and had begun to cheer Seto on. I felt better knowing Yugi was nearby, and also giving Seto encouragement he could count on. I knew most people didn't know it, or probably wouldn't believe it, but my brother strived on praise and encouragement. It helped him when he was stuck like this.

"Looks like the gang's all here… good," Noah said, "I was hoping for someone else to witness his demise."

"It'll take more than one silly rocket to bring my brother down. He'll beat that creep and come rescue me right away." Noah had his legs crossed and a smug look on his face. He gave a low chuckle.

"Oh Mokuba, sometimes you say the darnest things. What could possibly make you think that your brother cares about you?" I turned towards him, but only huffed with disproval.

"There are many instances in the past that I can recall right here and now to prove that he cares about me so I'll tell you right now, quite your act. You can't convince me to hate my brother, you simply can't." I thought to myself that I would never hate my brother, or ever doubt that he cared about me. Not after the experience at Duelist Kingdom, when I was in the Shadow Realm. I had seen my brother duel and lose. I had seen the way his eyes pained with regret and how the only thing he had truly been ashamed of was losing the duel and failing me.

The only reason he had dueled Pegasus was to save me. Not for honor, not for pride, and not to be the greatest duelist on the planet. He did it just for me, to save my soul. I wasn't going to let some green-haired weirdo come in and change all of that. I knew my brother better.

The duel continued. Things continued to look grim for my older brother. I couldn't help but twitch and wince with every painful move. This duel, somehow, seemed more real and way more intense than the duel we had encountered with Nesbitt. I honestly didn't know what the difference between the two could possibly be, they were both slim balls.

But I supposed Lector had some sort of edge. He seemed to really know what he was doing, and I was beginning to fear Seto wasn't on control of the duel anymore. After dueling by his side, the idea of my brother being a God at duel monsters had faded in some ways. But even with the knowledge that my brother was nothing more than a human being, that didn't mean his skills were any less perfected. And so I waited for my brother to turn the duel around.

It didn't. And I remained afraid.

"How can I stop a weapon I can't even see?" Seto yelled aloud, looking up at the sky.

"You can't. My weapon is so far up there are barely any monsters that could attack it at this range. And after each turn, it'll gain 1000 attack points," Lector continued, "Seto Kaiba, prepare to lose everything you have. It'll serve you right for all that you have done. This will serve as pay back for destroying your own step father, betraying the Big 5.

"It's about time you got what you deserved. All your life, all you ever did was use others to get what you want. You even went as far as to use your younger brother in your plan!"

"That's a lie!" I yelled without hesitation.

"Calm down Mokuba, listen to what Lector has to say. It's time you knew the real truth of the matter." I shook my head. Nothing Lector was going to say was going to be good, but I had already started mentally preparing myself for whatever horrible speech he had prepared. It wasn't going to work this time, because my cognitive thinking would be able to out do a flash back of any sort.

Lector spoke of times I remembered vividly, painfully. Seto called it his ultimate plan. He had told me that I was a crucial part of his game plan, and I accepted it with pride. But then one day I came home to find him turn on me. Someone had been leaking information to Gozaburo and Seto had blamed me for it. I didn't know what to do at the time. I thought I had lost my brother, my only friend.

Seto had detached from me for months, leaving me to wallow in my grief on my own. Until certain someone came in and "rescued" me. That was Gozaburo. He held out a hand when I was in trouble, and although it was the hand that had only given me pain in the past, it was the only hand I could hold onto at the time. I slowly found myself floating over to Gozaburo's side of the ring.

That was before it happened. The day Seto had finally confronted our step father about the take over. He had presented his game plane like any business man would before the time was right, before he had declared check mate. But Gozaburo claimed he hadn't lost yet, and that was because he believed he had my 2%. Little did he know that my dedication to Seto would never die, not then, not now.

"…After that dreadful day, Gozaburo found himself a broken man. He would go on to take his own life, and it was all YOUR fault Mister Kaiba! You drove him over the edge!" My eyes looked back up towards the screen, watching Lector and Seto stare down one another. "You played us all like fools! YOU were the one that leaked the information to Gozaburo! You wanted him to believe it was Mokuba, so in turn he would let you buy up the forty-nine percent of the company. He thought he would have Mokuba on his side.

"But you knew better, didn't you? You knew your brother would remain loyal to you no matter what. In the end, he was just another pawn in your plan. It's what makes me truly disgusted by you, Mister Kaiba, truly disgusted." I shook my head violently.

"No! It's a lie! My brother would never do that!" I protested. I looked back at Noah. He looked pleased by my emotionally torn face. But I wouldn't let Lector get to me. I couldn't. After all, these people were only trying to tear us apart. Nothing they said could be seen as the truth, even if my heart hurt in a way that it did.

"Mokuba was the only person I ever trusted, and I knew that together we would be able to bring our step father down!"

"You USED Mokuba! You took advantage of him and his trust! That is what makes you the lowest of the low, Mister Kaiba. And that is why it'll be a pleasure to defeat you once and for all!" I bent forward and slammed my two hands on the table in front of me.

"I know it's not true…" I said to myself, looking down at the table below me. My palms felt sweaty and my body was shaking. The worst part about realizing the truth was that it's not an easy thing to come by. But the best thing about love and brotherhood was understanding that there is always something more to the story. Something he couldn't have been telling anyone.

I knew my brother wouldn't deliberately hurt me, against all odds. He loved me and would always try to protect me. But people are so quick to attack and judge my brother, that sometimes even they miss the truth. My brother and I were a team. We would always be together to fight against all odds, and all people who tried to bring us down.

I looked back up at the screen. There was still a duel to be won.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! So the funniest thing happened just now. I opened up a document to start on the next chapter, and I kept having this weird feeling. I looked at the last chapter I had published and kept feeling like I had already written up most of what I was supposed to write. It was really freaky cause I was like "DUDE, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??" Cause my brain just couldn't seem to figure out what was going on. Then I opened up a document and saw I had already written the 13__th__ chapter. Lol, my bad. Anyhow, I feel like I should work more on Severance and Forlorn, but this story is getting so good I can barely contain myself! I think I speak for all of us when we say, "OMG, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART!" Hopefully that'll come soon if this duel hurries up-.- It will, I promise! Thanks for reading!_

_P.S: I know I keep updating super fast and not updating my other stories, but bear with me guys, THIS STORY IS JUST GETTING GOOD! So hurry up and review so I can post the next chapter!!!!!!:D_


	14. Chapter 14: Divided We Fall

MythCreatorWriter: I do have something TRULY amazing for you! I'm so excited about it, I can barely concentrate on writing a full fledge reply! And thank you! I didn't think to put in my own sort of thing till I started to write it, and my friend gave me a bit of inspiration as she always does. Somehow I knew you would like that part where Mokuba was saying that everyone misjudges him. I don't know, I kind of thought of you after I wrote it! Awww, and thank you so much! You wrote me such a kind and wonderful chapter! I hope you enjoy this chapter because man oh man, IS IT EPIC!

WhiteAsukalover: OR WILL HE?! We'll soon find out! Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: Hey babe the piggy of my heart, I understand that you'll be going out of the town soon… but I just had to post this baby. It was too good of a day, the moon is at the right angle, and I believe all the stars in the universe aligned so that we could first meet(lol, I sound like some sappy boyfriend trying to write a crappy love poem;]) But I just had to! I'm sure you'll love to come home and find this anyhow, it can be like the perfect surprise!:D But anyhow, onto your reviews! First of all, really? You like how I wrote Lector? Hahaha, unless the character is super specific, I feel like all my bad guys act the same. But maybe that's just me being mean to myself, cause you wrote me two amazing and beautiful reviews that made me want to float into the sky and dance on the clouds! And about Mokuba's pride/doubt… wow. That really made me feel swell. That was actually a hard scene for me to write because… I feel like, after writing so many stories with Mokuba from all different ages and what not, as my writing matured and grew, I feel my Mokuba character has as well. And sometimes I worry that I write him too mature, or too not dedicated to his brother. But this made me feel just friggin awesome. You're just great! Thank you SO much for your review! I really enjoyed it. That thing at the end, I mention you. The whole last paragraph in my author's note goes out to you babe. Now read, enjoy, gasp, and be amazed!

Chapter 14: Divided We Fall

**-S-**

It was getting to the point where I was sick of it. Every last bit of Lector's lies and overly dramatic tales, I had just had it with. I had heard once that when a person who is right knows their right, they don't need to prove it. I felt that was the reason I had no desire to really tell Lector otherwise. I was sure beating him would be enough to put him in his place.

"I'm done with your meaningless speeches Lector, life is a game and if you can't win, don't play," I said, "Now let's duel." I drew one card from my deck and began my turn. I glanced at my card and already had a plan in my head to win the game. Now the only thing to do was to see if it would work. That was my favorite part of dueling. Having a plan, seeing if it'll get ruined, and if it does, still winning. Those were the duels I lived for.

"I summon Spirit Ryu in attack mode, and I'll attack Injection Fairy Lily!" I commanded. My monster opened its jaw and launched its attack towards Lector's monster.

"Have you already forgotten my Fairy Lily's special effect? By giving up 2000 life points, I'm able to boost her attack strength to 3400!" I heard Yugi protest from behind me. I could even hear his little friends worried comments. Sometimes stupid people could be amusing.

"Not so fast because I activate Spirit Ryu's special effect. By discarding two dragon cards from my hand, I'm able to boost Spirit Ryu's attack strength by 2000, making his attack 3000." I watched as my monster's attack was shot right back at me, destroying my dragon and taking 400 of my life points. I was now down to 800 life points total. Perfect.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing Seto, but with only 800 life points left, I'm not sure if you intend to win this duel. Is the great Seto Kaiba giving up?" I chuckled.

"Not quite, now, Twin-Headed Behemoth, attack Fairy Lily now!" Lector was about to activate Fairy Lily's special ability, when he realized he couldn't.

"No! I don't have enough life points to increase her strength!" I grinned.

"Exactly." I watched with pleasure as my Twin-Headed Behemoth attacked and destroyed Lector's monster. Now his life points were down to 800 as well. I was happy about it too, that thing was getting rather annoying to deal with. I was glad to have it off the field, finally. "It's good to be the CEO."

Lector growled with annoyance. "Yeah… well, it's my move." Lector drew a card from his deck. "Because of Solemn Wishes, I gain back 500 life points as well as 350 from Life-Absorbing Machine."

"And what about Imperial Order? Willing to cough up 700 life points for that?" Lector's face looked pained with regret.

"I can't afford to lose anymore life points, and because I'm not willing to pay, the card is destroyed." It was looking to be a tough duel, but now I could tell I was about to break Lector. He was beginning to run out of good moves, while I was just getting started. It was going to be all smooth riding from here, which meant it was time to rub it in Lector's face.

"Lector, whatever made you think you'd ever be able to rule Kaiba Corp. when you can barely keep track of simple numbers in a card game?" I said with pride.

"SILENCE. I'm not done with my turn yet!" That was another good sign; an angry opponent. If the opponent has begun to lose their temper, they'll most likely begin to lose the duel. People aren't good at being able to concentrate on much of anything when they're angry, much less play Duel Monsters efficiently. I was really beginning to think I had this game in the bag now.

"I'll summon one monster face-down and use my Satellite Cannon to destroy your Twin-Headed Behemoth!" A giant beam of light came down from the sky. The cloud blew away as it approached the ground just before colliding with the monster in front of me. For a moment, all was white, and I had to cover my eyes from becoming blind. "I'm sorry if I burst your bubble Seto, but I still have a couple moves left to play."

I uncovered my face and looked down at my deck. I ignored Lector's comment and drew my card. I looked back up and the field with one card in particular to use.

"I'll activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards," I announced, just before drawing two cards from my deck. "Then I'll summon Possessed Dark Soul and attack your face-down monster." Lector held up his hand.

"Hold on. You've just attacked my Dream Sprite, whose effect can re-direct your monster's attack to any of my other monsters on the field. And I'll choose my Satellite Cannon," Lector pointed towards the sky. "This makes your attack useless. I've become untouchable." I looked down with dismay. I was beginning to grow tire of this game.

"I'll draw and gain life points from both my trap cards, then I'll end my turn," Lector stated, "The power of my Satellite Cannon will increase, which means I'll be able to destroy you with one final blow next turn."

"I'll destroy that Satellite Cannon no matter what it takes."

"Ha! Not likely. Most monsters aren't able to attack anything at such a high altitude. I doubt there's anything in your deck that can stop it. Once you end your turn, it's over!" I heard Yugi's friend chatting from behind me. As great as it was to have an audience to witness Lector's defeat, their constant commenting on the duel made it rather hard to concentrate. I looked down at my duel disk, knowing there was only one card and one card alone that would win me this duel.

It all came down to this one moment, this very draw. I closed my eyes and placed my finger down on top of my deck. This was it... I gripped the card between my index finger and my thumb, waiting for a sign… My eyes snapped opened.

"Behold the ultimate card!" I yelled, holding up the card I had drawn in the air without even looking at it. I knew what it was. And I knew it was the monster that would defeat Lector and finally end this game. Lector stared at me and took a step closer.

"What is it? What is it?" Lector asked in a worried voice. He had reason to be worried, because now I was going to crush him like the insect he was.

"Oh, you'll see… first, I'll place one card face-down on the field in defense mode," I placed the card on my duel disk and looked to my side at my deck master, "Now I'll activate my deck master's ability. At the cost of 500 life points, Lord of Dragons allows me to summon any dragon from my hand." Lector's eyes widened. I think he knew what was coming next.

"Now I'll sacrifice both my monsters on the field to summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" I flipped the card onto my duel disk and a ray of light burst onto the field; giving form to the white dragon I called my ultimate weapon. It flapped its wings and its call echoed across the sky. "Now fly up there and destroy Satellite Cannon!" I commanded. My dragon echoed its cry once more before flapping its wings and shooting up into the sky. My dragon disappeared behind the clouds over head.

"No! It can't be…"

"Oh, but it is. This duel is over, Lector. You should've known better than to challenge me," I looked up towards the sky, "Now my Blue-Eyes, finish him off with White Lightning attack!" The sky began to glow a strange sort of yellow, just before heated pieces of metal began falling from the sky. Lector's monster had been destroyed, which meant the duel was over.

Lector had fallen onto his knees. Smoke was rising from his body as he stared down at the ground in shame.

"No… I had been so close to getting out of this digital dungeon…" I ran over to Lector. Now that this duel was done, I needed information. I had a brother to save.

"Where's Mokuba??" I asked, but more demanded from Lector. Lector looked up from the ground and up towards me, even while he was kneeling on the ground and hunched over in pain.

"You'll never see your brother again. But I will be back…" Just like that, Lector had dispersed into tiny holographic pieces right in front of me. I stood frozen, staring down at the ground at where he once was. I tightened my fist and stared up at the sky. I didn't know where Mokuba was, but I was going to find him, no matter what it took.

"I'm coming, Mokuba!"

**-M-**

"Ha ha! Alright Nii-sama! Way to show them what's what!" I said, jumping up with glee. I stood there beaming with pride, a huge grin on my face. My brother had won, just like I knew he would. He had me frightened for a moment, but all in all, he would come through for me. "I knew you could do it!" I cheered, even though I was well aware he probably couldn't hear me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Noah staring at me… devastated and confused.

"Mokuba, how can you be cheering for your brother after what he did to you? He betrayed you to take over Kaiba Corp.!" I looked over at Noah.

"I'll stand by my brother's side to the very end. He's my family, and nothing's ever going to change that." I looked back up at the screen at my brother. I had never known a moment where I was happier, or more proud. My brother had done just as I had told Noah, and he would make sure to put Noah in his place now that Lector was out of the way. It was only a matter of time before we were together again.

"What do you think your brother is thinking right now?" Noah asked. I turned my head again and stared at him. "Do you honestly believe Seto is coming to rescue you? Or do you think he's happy you're out of his hair?" I scuffed with pride and sat down.

"Nii-sama is definitely coming to get me. And once he does, you'll be sorry." Noah's grin grew and suddenly I felt uncomfortable. Like something bad was going to happen.

"Somehow I think I have something to show him that might change that." I looked at him again.

"What do you mean?" Noah turned his head back towards the television screen. I did as well. Seto was standing there, still staring at the ground, when suddenly everything went black. I stood up.

"Wait, what's going on?" I watched as Seto placed his hand on his head and cringed in pain for a second. He opened his eyes slightly and looked around. The scene around him changed and suddenly he was somewhere else. "What are you doing? Where have you sent him?"

"Oh, I haven't sent him anywhere. He's just taking a look at one memory and kept from showing him…" Noah said in a low voice. I gasped. This couldn't be true. He couldn't mean what I thought he meant. I stared back at the screen in total horror. Then I realized Seto wasn't just anywhere, he was in a dungeon. An all too familiar dungeon.

"What is going on…?" Seto said aloud, "Where am I? Duelist Kingdom?" Seto turned to his left, and the screen revealed a single cell containing one prisoner. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I got back onto my feet.

"No…" I could hear my screams so loud from the screen. I saw images of myself on the ground, keeling over in pain and holding my stomach. Seto's eyes were wide, confused, and shocked. I could see Kimo again, that demon, shoving me into the dungeon wall, kicking me and punching me until I was unable to move on my own. He wouldn't stop… he just wouldn't stop.

"PLEASE! Don't do this!" I yelled, looking back towards Noah, but keeping one eye on Seto. I could see the shock on his face, and I could feel the disappointment he felt. I felt everything again. I didn't want him to see this. I didn't want him to know. I just wanted everything to stop. But then the unimaginable happened. The scene had bits and pieces of every beating I ever endured during my stay at Duelist Kingdom, when it stopped at one. I heard Kimo's voice.

"Eat it." Kimo's voice demanded. No. Please don't. "I wasn't suggesting, I was telling you to eat it. Eat it right now." Please don't do this. Please God, no.

"No." I heard myself say in the flashback.

"Really? Then I guess we'll just have to do something about that, now won't we?" I shut my eyes and looked away. I couldn't see it anymore. I couldn't watch myself. I was disgusted with myself, I was ashamed of myself. I didn't fight, I didn't do anything. I could hear projections from the television of myself from the flashback twisting around and vomiting. It was a vile sound.

"I wonder what Seto will think of you now…" I wasn't sure how I was able to hear Noah, considering I had my hands now clutching over my ears in an attempt to keep myself from hearing anything that was going on. I also didn't want to hear or see Seto's reaction. I had failed him in so many ways. "I wonder if he would be ashamed that you were so quick to admit defeat without a fight."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"NO!" I yelled, turning around completely and leaping over to couch. I started making a run into the utter darkness of the room. Noah twisted around and called after me.

"Where do you think you're going?" I wasn't going to answer him. I didn't have anything to say to him. I just needed to get out of here. I just needed to get away from Noah. I kept running and at some point, I didn't hear anymore from my flashback. I looked up ahead and stopped when I saw my brother standing apart from me.

"Nii-sama…!" I said with total shock. My mouth became slightly ajar, but I smiled. My brother was here, to rescue me! We were finally together again. I ran towards him with joy, "Now we can get out of this place!" I exclaimed as I came near him. But just as I came close, Seto's hand was raised and smacked me across the face.

I had never felt an injury, a blow to the head, more intensely than the slap I had just received. I floated sideways a little sideways before falling onto the ground. I sat up, staring back up at my brother with wide eyes, looking for answers. His cold eyes had never seemed so unemotional in my life. He looked down at me like I was a dirty animal.

"Don't come near me, you sad excuse for a Kaiba." My lower lip quivered and my right cheek stung with pain.

"What… what are you talking about?" I choked. I felt like I was going to throw up again. This couldn't be happening. My brother's eyes were unchanging.

"You're a disgrace to the family. Never have I seen such a pathetic human being. You didn't even attempt to defend yourself against Kimo. He just kicked you around like the weakling that you are. All you did was sit there and wait for me to save you. What a disappointment," Seto said with such a cold expression, "I always have to interrupt my plans to go and save you. Well, I'm tired of it. You've been holding me back for far too long. If it weren't for you, I'd probably already be out of this place." Seto turned and began walking away.

"Nii-sama! Wait!" I called, leaning forward and wishing my brother would come back. Wishing he would turn around and tell me he didn't mean what he said. But he just kept walking, until he had disappeared into the darkness. "NII-SAMA!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. But he was gone. He had vanished from site.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I was alone. I was all alone, left to fall into a hole of shame and accept my brother's hate for me. I felt all hope had become lost at this point. Without my brother, there was no hope. I needed my brother to overcome the obstacles, and now I no longer felt any desire to go on. It was all over.

* * *

**A/N:** _SO WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK?!?!?! Pretty epic, huh? I don't know about you, but I practically couldn't sleep the night I wrote this. I was just so excited and so happy. This is the scene, the moment, the part I've been itching to write from the very beginning of this story! (besides the re-write of episode 116, which btw, I have an awesome little twist to add into that scene just like I did with this scene that you just read!) So only awesomeness from here on out! I can barely contain myself! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!(Although that would be pretty hard to match up to consider HOW much I love this chapter!) I bet you guys liked the slightly longer chapter, am I right? For the win!_

_Now if you wish, you can move on and review, but I must give my regards to someone special. You see, many months ago, when I was first contemplating writing this story, I consulted with my readers of Captivity and asked their opinion on what I should do. It was AmePiper's brilliant idea to put this scene in, the moment where Seto discovers what happened to Mokuba. And I find it to be such a great scene that she should be recognized for it! I mean, seriously, I didn't even think of relating the theme of the last story into this until she gave me the idea. I love her a lot for giving it to me, because it has brought me great joy which is rare to find in this day and age. So lots of love should go to AmePiper for it! She's fantastic!_


	15. Chapter 15: Family Matters

WhiteAsukalover: Indeed he is, thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Awesome. That's EXACTLY the reaction I wrote that last chapter for. It made me feel so successful to know that it was exactly what I got. I'm so happy. That's great. Don't you love when everything goes exactly as planned? You're quite welcome:] Dude, seriously, if you loved that, you're going to love all the other little additions I'm going to add to this story to connect it back to the first story. ITS GOING TO BLOW YOUR MIND!(I feel like I've already said that about a bazillion times now… I suppose I can't help it, I'm so excited for it) Thanks again for your wonderful review and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

SereneShadows: Its fine! Sometimes I go into update frenzies and everyone has a hard time keeping up! But have no fear, for here is another chapter! And thank you! I always try to end my chapters with an extra special zing to it… You know, the kind of ending you want to linger in the air a bit and keep you up at night… or maybe I'm thinking of horror movies. Its okay to make the boy suffer for the sake of a good story!(does that sound wrong?) Hahaha, anyhow, thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

AmePiper: Oh my, Ame, how I LOVE your reviews! BTW, 'oh my stars' is a fantastic phrase that I might actually have to steal, you adorable little thing! I LOVED your review and it was well worth the anticipation I've had for it the past week or so! I'm REALLY glad you liked it, because I really did work hard on that last chapter to make it exactly perfect!:3 You said that your idea was only a mere suggestion but I think its what inspired me to really take this story and do something different with it. I think you're going to love the other little snip-its I'm going to add in for my own fun as well! Oh yeah, and I read your comment while I was in Lit Mag and my friend looks over and sees your review and she's like "Wow, dude, what is this?" And I was like "A review from a reviewer that LOVES ME who lives in ENGLAND." And oh man, my friend was SOOOOO jealous:p It was AWESOME! I'd go on about how much I want to seduce you right now, but I have a bazillion chores to do and I've been sitting in a car for the past two hours. But dude, thank you SO MUCH, for your awesome review! ENJOY!

Chapter 15: Family Matters

**-M-**

So there I was, kneeling and in shame, staring out into the darkness that had already betrayed me, looking in the very same spot for any signs of my brother's return. But I had a feeling he wouldn't be returning anytime soon. I had a feeling he would be gone forever. These feelings stung me in ways I couldn't even describe. There was a small bit of me that felt that couldn't be real, but I was too upset, I was too afraid.

"Nii-sama…" I said in a quiet voice to myself; "What happened?" I didn't even know how everything had ended up like this. I didn't want this to be real. It had to be a dream. This had to be one very bad dream.

"Looks to me like your brother could care less about your or where you end up." I continued to stare blankly into the darkness ahead, even with the newly present voice talking to me. This had to be a dream, just a bad dream… "I, on the other hand, would like to help you, Mokuba."

I looked up. A ray of light? A sign of hope? No, it couldn't be. I stared at the man that I had just been running away from only a mere five minutes ago and suddenly saw him in a new light, in a new way. He was smiling down at me with concern and affection, something I hadn't seen before. Something I was yearning for after receiving such a harsh greeting from Seto.

"Mokuba… I promise that I'll take care of you. I'll be the brother you never have, and I'll save you. I'll keep you safe, trust me. I'll be there for you when you need me most." I kept staring at him, unsure as to what to say. I knew he was bad, I knew it… or, I had. Now I didn't know what to believe. With Seto gone, things had become unclear. I didn't know where to go or what to do next.

All I knew was that I was in pain. Seto… the way he had hit me, the way he had tossed me to the side… I held my hand against my swollen cheek and let it sit there for a moment. It still stung, not from the blow itself, but the hatred behind the hand that had slapped my face. I was alone. I was scared. I wanted my Nii-sama more than ever.

I just wanted to get away from this pain, from this fear, from everything.

I kept gazing into Noah's eyes, when suddenly his eyes grew larger, and his pupils began to glow red. Before I could turn away, before I could do anything, the light came at me, and consumed me in a way. I felt everything suddenly slip away, all my bad feelings lost in space. I stared into Noah's eyes, and suddenly I felt the void in my heart was complete. I wasn't alone.

"It's going to be okay, Mokuba, now that you're with me," Noah cooed softly into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I sat there without any resistance, letting him take hold of me and hug me. I was so confused, but his voice was relaxing, and his arms comforted me. "I'm the only one you can trust from now on. Seto is the one who hurt you, Seto is the enemy. I'm your Nii-sama now."

I continued to stare blankly, listening to his words carefully. As Noah would speak them, I would understand them and believe them.

"Seto is the enemy…" I said out loud, "I trust you… Nii-sama…"

**-S-**

I stood in the middle of the road, motionless. All those images… from Duelist Kingdom, of my brother… starving and being beaten, did that all happen? Was it all a lie made up by Noah? Or was this the… I stopped when the thought came to mind. Was this what Mokuba had been keeping from me all this time? Was this the painful experience he could never bring himself to talk about? I had to find Mokuba, and I had to find him soon. I needed to make things right again, and I needed to find out the truth.

I was contemplating my next move, my next plan of action. Lector hadn't given me information and time was running out. Mokuba was in trouble, and I had to find him soon. I heard Yugi and his friends discussing and cheering from behind me, but I had basically trained myself to tune them out. I had more important issues at hand. Then I heard cackling in the distance.

I looked up into the sky as the voice above spoke in an all too evil voice.

"Well Seto, you may have won your duel but you have lost something of greater importance; your brother!" I looked ahead and growled with annoyance.

"Where is he?" I saw up ahead a tunnel had magically appear farther up the road from me.

"Follow the road ahead, and you may find him. But you better run fast, your time may run out."

"Mokuba! I'm on my way!" I called out, hoping he could hear me. I sprinted forward and towards the tunnel without another second to lose. My brother's life was at stake, and who knew what Noah could be putting him through just then. I proceeded towards the tunnel when Yugi called for me to stop.

"Kaiba! Wait! That might be a trap!" I stopped and turned towards him, I was going to try and make this very clear for him, since I didn't have a lot of time to go into detail.

"Just stay out of this Yugi! This is family business!" I barked back at him. Wheeler, of course, had to step forward and try to start a fight. I rolled my eyes.

"Who do you think you are?" I would need to take care of that moron later, but for now, I needed to get a move on.

"This doesn't concern you, so just stay out of it!" I twisted back around and headed down the tunnel. I didn't care what or if they said anything afterwards, now I could focus everything on finding my younger brother. I continued to run for quite some time, keeping my senses alert for anything suspicious. Knowing Noah, this tunnel would probably have something unexpected prepared for me. But I didn't care.

I stopped when I came to a fork in the road. The street split up two ways, and I didn't know which one was the right one. I grew angry with the idea that Noah was messing with my head even more, but I didn't have time to make a decision about this. I went with my gut and took the right road, keeping a speedy sprint as I took my turn.

"Nii-sama…" I looked all around as I ran. I thought I had heard Mokuba just calling out to me. "Nii-sama…"

"Mokuba?" I stopped running for a moment and turned down another side street that was beside me. My eyes focused on the darkness within, when I saw the outline of a figure appearing from out of the darkness.

"Nii-sama…" Mokuba stood in the middle of the side street, his head cocked to the side. His eyes were sad and full of sorrow.

"Mokuba!" I called out to him, glad to have finally found my brother. I began running towards him, but just as I did, the boy began to grin, and his hair changed. I stopped immediately when his hair became short and green, a smirk was replacing the hurt frown on his face. I froze and looked up as Noah, in the body of my brother, floated above me. Before I could do anything, a shiny bright, blue light shot out from the locket around his neck and transported me.

And then I was falling. I was simply falling through a hole of plain darkness. I expected that only the worst was yet to come when someone was falling or had fallen, so I didn't expect anything great to come from this. In fact, I was expecting to fall into a pit of lava, or maybe even a river of needles that would most likely kill me on impact. I hated falling. It makes people more vulnerable, it gives a feeling of—

My body fell against the floor hard. The shock from the collision paralyzed my body for a few moments, but it recovered quickly. I slowly pushed myself up and off the floor, back onto my feet, ready to fight anyone. I was happy to see Noah was standing right in front of me because I was ready to clobber anyone in my path.

"It's good to see you again, Seto." I stared at him with stern eyes.

"Noah, tell me where's my little brother? I demand that you bring him--" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw Mokuba appear from behind Noah.

"Mokuba." His eyes were full of fear, and his hands were clamped onto Noah's shoulders.

"Yep, your little brother is safe and sound, thanks to me." I shook my head in disgrace; it was taking everything in me to hold back from attacking him. I started walking over towards him, but mainly over to retrieve my brother from him.

"You're the one who took him from me in the first place; you'd be the last person he would be safe with. He's coming with me."

"Don't you remember? It was Nesbitt that was the one that kidnapped Mokuba, not me. You should've kept a better eye on him Seto, little brothers can be easy to lose and hard to keep. But anyway, I was the one that saved him, so maybe you should be a little more grateful." I ignored every word he said and continued towards my brother. I grabbed Mokuba by the wrist and pulled him over to my side.

"Let's go, Mokuba." I just need to get my brother away from this guy and then everything would be—

Mokuba pulled his wrist out of my hand, forcefully. I stopped and turned around, staring at him. I was confused.

"What's wrong Mokuba?" I asked. Mokuba stood there silently, looking off to the side in anger and shame. I blinked a couple times. After a couple seconds I said, "Come over here." Mokuba shut his eyes and turned away.

"No!" Mokuba ran towards Noah and hid behind him. "I want to say right here, with my Nii-sama!" I felt a burn of anger inside of me, upon hearing Mokuba call Noah 'Nii-sama.' It had become obvious that Noah had done or said something to poison my brother's mind and turn him against me.

"Noah, what have you done? What did you tell my brother?" I was glaring at Noah, but my eyes kept glancing at my brother. The way he was clutching to Noah's shoulder in fear, the way his eyes looked at me like I was some sort of mad man, or some kind of stranger. What had he done to Mokuba?

"I didn't tell him a single thing. Mokuba came to the realization that you don't care about him all on his own. He's seen your true color now." I glared at him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How dare he infect my brother's mind with lies!

"Shouting won't do you any good and it most certainly won't reverse all the painful memories he had to repress from your betrayal and abandonment. He's finally come to the conclusion that you cared more about the company and your own personal gain than him."

"That's not true! I would never do such a thing! Mokuba, please, snap out of this! You can't possibly believe those lies!" I looked desperately into my brother's face to see whether he was coming to a realization or not. But he just stood there, staring at me, with those same frightened eyes. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be true.

"Must you raise your voice?" I glared at Noah and glanced back up at Mokuba again. My angry expression changed when I saw the look on his face. Mokuba was… afraid. He was afraid of me. I retracted my fist and let it hang by my side instead.

"Mokuba, you know it's not true!"

"We heard every single last word that came out of Lector's mouth; the struggle of power, the manipulation, stocks you took for yourself… You used Mokuba to get to where you are today and you used his stocks to get what you wanted! You never cared about Mokuba for one second, so maybe you should be the one to stop telling lies."

"I would never treat Mokuba like that! Mokuba, you must understand-!"

"You've said enough." Noah turned back towards my brother, placing his hands on Mokuba's shoulders and whispering softly to him, "Its okay. I won't let him hurt you anymore. Let's go." Mokuba face looked down and allowed himself to be pushed away and towards the couch. This wasn't happening, I couldn't let this happen.

"Leave him out of this Noah! This isn't just some game, that's my little brother. You will not destroy the only family I have!" I watched in disgust as he placed Mokuba on the couch and stood back up glaring at me.

"You have no family." I felt my body tense up at his words. Noah turned his back to me and sat down, chuckling as he may. I lowered my head in anguish. "You're all alone now. It's already become apparent that Mokuba enjoys having me as a brother rather than you. And he won't be the last thing I'll take away from you."

"Enough," I said with a slight bit of exasperation. Could this really be happening? I didn't want to believe a word of it, I just couldn't push myself to believing that my brother had actually left me to be on Noah's side. It just wasn't possible. And yet there he sat, on the other side of the room, his back turned to me as he sat beside the one person who had put us here in the first place.

"You don't deserve anything you have; I do. So it's only fair that I take what's been rightfully mine from the very beginning, at least before you took it away from me."

"And how do you figure that?" Noah looked back at me and grinned. It was true that I still did not know much about this boy whom had been holding us captive in this virtual land, but I had picked up facts here and there; pieces of a puzzle that just needed to be put together to seek the truth. I didn't know how I was going to understand what I was about to witness next, and I wasn't sure what it meant.

Now I just wanted my brother back. That's all I wanted. I looked down at Mokuba for a split second, hoping he would turn his head when he sensed I was looking at him, calling out to him mentally and emotionally. Mokuba never turned around; he didn't even glance at me.

I truly was alone.

* * *

**A/N:** _Wow, I can't believe I finished all of my review replies and didn't even remember to write an author's note! Usually I write the author's note right after I finish the chapter and then write up the review replies, but I've had this chapter done for a while now and I'm surprised I didn't think of it before hand. My bad! Anyhow, so… I felt some concern about my lag in updating and this was a result of the site being down for the past couple days. Also, I had a lot of stuff going on last week. Not to mention I turned 18 on the 22__nd__!:D Very exciting. I was hoping to post this chapter then, but as I said before, the site was down:[ Hopefully it has been fixed and I'll be sure to get back into the updating jive again! Thanks for reading you wonderful, wonderful people!_

_P.S: It was my birthday on the 22__nd__!^^ I would have updated and given you this chapter as a special present, but fanfiction was a failure:[ But anyhow… HORRAY FOR BEING 18!:D_


	16. Chapter 16: Separate but Hostile

MythCreatorWriter: Dang, we weren't the same age before? Gosh, now I feel young… ;.; But anyhow, onward to the story. I'm glad you're getting into it and that the Mokuba scene was epic! This next scene is gonna be a Mokuba scene from when he is brainwashed, so it'll be a little tricky, but I think you'll like it a lot! Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: You love me? DOES THAT MEAN WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED?! No, I'm kidding. But thanks for putting the wonderful thought in my head…:] No, I'm joking again. But seriously thanks… for the review! Hope you like the chapter!

SereneShadows: Awww, you're going to be 17 soon? What a young-in! How adorable! No, I'm kidding. We're all big kids. Although, its kind of funny because I'll be looking online to apply to certain programs and it'll have separate things for teens and for adults and I'm always sitting here like "Okay, click on teen… NO WAIT, am I an adult now?" It's very confusing! But fun all the same:] Thank you for the birthday wishes! Oh, believe me deary, you're going to have many, many favorite episodes in this story! This is the arc we all know and love! Thanks for your wonderful review!

AmePiper: Hi baby! I know you've been feeling sick, and I'm so terribly sorry that you have :[ I know you weren't able to review, but baby, stalking your pictures online is all I would ever need to keep going. It's like staring at your face is enough to make the review just right out of the album I'm looking at!! You're one pretty kitty, and I hope you feel better soon! I heart you like the sun and moon do, and when no one's looking, they make passionate love together! Enjoy!:3

Chapter 16: Separate but Hostile

**-M-**

I sat there, staring blankly. I was lost, confused… and angry. Even though I looked and seemed calm, and I was very enraged. It was better to be angry than sad. Replacing pain with anger was the only way I could feel better about anything and everything that had happened. Noah had showed me the way and I had taken his offer willingly.

I could hear Noah harassing someone in the back ground, but I couldn't quite understand all that was being said. I would hear little pieces of the conversation, but I found it hard to concentrate and follow the information that was being converse between the two.

"It's time you learned the truth…" I heard Noah say.

"What truth?" I phased out of the conversation again, drifting in my own thoughts and feelings which I felt I had no control of. Every time I even tried to think about Seto, I found myself fall into a mental block. Before I knew it, I was drifting again in an ocean of endless and meaningless thoughts.

Where was I? Oh yes… here. With… Noah. Right. Wherever Noah was, I would be. If I was in that place with him, then I would be safe. I heard a door open, and two other beings were present in the room. It sounded like someone I knew… or at least someone I once knew. I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything.

"Does this mean anything to you, Kaiba?" I heard the unfamiliar and unimportant voice asked.

"Hmph. It must be a trick. It's a picture of my step father." That voice in particular… it gave me pain to hear. I twitched a little, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Noah continued to talk to them regardless. I wish he wouldn't. I wish we could get away from this place. I tried to run, but my body felt frozen in time and space.

"Gozaburo… is Noah's father?!"

"Surprise, Seto. We're step brothers. You see, Seto… you were never supposed to take over. My father only adopted you to train me; you were nothing to him from the very beginning. And that's the story of how an orphan with no class because the president of Kaiba Corp."

"That can't be true." Another uncomfortable feeling took over. Who was this person that kept talking? Was it Seto? Who was Seto? I moved my head slightly and tried to force my arm up, but it was no use. I was still immobile. I wished Noah hadn't left, I hoped he would come back soon. I felt lost without his constant control over me.

"Oh but it is. And I plan to take you down and reclaim the empire that was rightfully mine."

"It doesn't make sense. If you're my step brother, how was it that I never met you?" I was still clueless about what this all meant. I could hear the words being said, but I didn't understand their meaning. I felt very less than and clueless, I hated being stupid. I wanted to get out of here…

"That's part two of my story…" The screen in front of me came on again. My eyes looked up, and I saw three people in a pick up truck being chased down by monsters. Monsters…

Those were duel monsters. I didn't remember the people in the van, but I knew the duel monsters chasing them. One was a Nightmare Penguin, another was a Judge Man, another was a Robotic Knight, next was a Jinzo, and the last one was a Deep Sea Warrior. It gave me some comfort and joy at least remembering that much. For me, remembering that was all I needed to know to calm myself down from this immobile and brain dead state I was in.

"Looks like I have a situation to attend to. I'll be back to finish business with you later."

"Come back! You're staying right here!" The voice echoed one last time before he had vanished from the room. Now I felt even better without that Seto person around. Noah approached me once more, and I couldn't be happier. He walked over and knelt in front of me.

"Now Mokuba, I have some business I must attend to, but you stay right here in the mean time, okay?" I looked up at him and shook my head.

"Don't," I whimpered, my body beginning to shake uncontrollably. I didn't want to be left alone again. I was scared of being abandoned. What if he didn't come back to me? What if it was all just an empty lie? I couldn't deal with loneliness again… not after what happened.

"Shhhhh, Mokuba…" Noah grabbed my two hands gently and held them gingerly in his hands. Suddenly felt safe again as he began to stroke my palms lovingly. "I promise it'll only take a minute. I just need to dispose of the Big 5, and then I promise to come right back to you. Can you promise that you'll be good while I'm gone?" I nodded slowly. With Noah around, I found that I was able to move my body once more.

"Good," Noah said. He stood up and turned back towards the screen. "I promise to only be a minute." A bright light flashed and suddenly he was gone when I re-opened my eyes. I stared blankly into the darkness that surrounded me once more. I was alone again… always alone in my head. I was 11 years old… I needed someone to take care of me, someone to love.

But no one was around. Just like in the orphanage, when no one wanted me. It became clear that I was a failure. There was nothing about me that was worth fighting for; there wasn't one person who wanted to do that fighting. I would rot in the orphanage for the rest of my life being picked on and hated…

"Nii-sama, why did you turn that family down?" What was this that I was hearing?

"I'm not leaving this place without you." That voice… I remember it, and then I remembered the pain…

"You won't let them separate us?" I saw an image in my head of a memory long forgotten. I couldn't make out many details. But I saw a face. I saw… a smile.

"I'll never let them do that. Nothing will ever keep us apart." I saw that smile and I thought of Seto. But when I thought of Seto, the good feelings went away. I didn't make the connection. The promise and that Seto stranger couldn't have been the same person, could they? I was so confused. I didn't want to be in this place.

Another bright light; and Noah re-appeared in the room.

"Sorry I took so long, I just had a couple of morons to take care of."

"Nii-sama!" I cried, jumping to my feet and running towards him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I was so scared I'd never see you again!" I buried my face in his shoulder in an attempt to keep myself from crying. Noah gently stroked my hair in comfort.

"Don't worry Mokuba," Noah cooed softly, "It's going to be alright. Nothing will ever keep us apart." My head jerked up and I stared into his eyes. He didn't sound the same but… could he have been the one that had said those kind words I had heard in my head from a memory that had been lost in my mind?

I looked into his face and saw… a smile.

**-S-**

I stood there, staring deeply at the picture in my hand. Gozaburo and Noah… were father and son? None of this was making any sense. This wasn't adding up… it couldn't be real.

"Kaiba?" I heard Yugi call out as he ran towards me, I turned my head and looked down at him, "Do you think that what Noah said could be true? About you guys being step brothers?"

"Noah's story is nothing but one big lie designed to mess with my head," I stated sternly, "The supposed conversation he had with Gozaburo would've taken place over six years ago, which should be when this was taken by the imprinted date. But look closely…" I handed the picture over to Yugi as he looked down at it. His eyes widened and he gasped, looking up.

"Noah looks the same as he does now!" Yugi said in exclamation.

"He hasn't aged in six years?" Tea asked, stating the obvious.

"That's kind of creepy…" Serenity said, shuddering a bit.

"But it does show that Noah's tale was a lie…" Joey started looking all around the terrain we were standing on.

"Hey guys, can we keep moving? I mean, I love solving mysteries and all, but I think its best if we keep on our feet."

"Joey's right, let's go." We spotted a nearby road and began to follow it. It was our best bet after all, considering the location we were in. But I couldn't help glancing at the picture every once and a while and pondering what kind of trick Noah was trying to pull here. Part of me really did want to believe it was a lie, but another part couldn't help but wonder that there was the smallest of possibilities that it wasn't a lie…

We continued to walk on, and soon his friends became confident enough to try and converse with me as we did.

"So Kaiba, are you and Noah really step brothers?" Duke asked. I gritted my teeth and stopped walking. The rest of the gang did so as well.

"That's none of your business."

"But that does give us an idea of why he brought us here." God, I wished Yugi wouldn't share all his thoughts out loud.

"Yeah, Noah wants to prove to his step dad that he's the better son!" Joey said, stating his own little part of the obvious. I hated them all so much…

"So to prove himself and boost his power, he teamed up with the Big 5 to defeat us… now he's holding Mokuba captive to weaken Kaiba." I turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. I didn't want to hear them talk about anything related to my brother. Even with this new and mysterious discovery, it couldn't distract me from the real reason I wanted to defeat Noah.

"I'm out of here," I grumbled to myself as I continued to walk along. Suddenly Tea ran up from behind me and stood out in front of me, her arms stretched out and her eyes focused on me.

"Hold it right there, Kaiba." I stared down at her, angered and annoyed.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"If you're leaving, that's the problem!"

"Stand aside. I already told you people that this is family business so stay out of it." I raised my arm and gently moved her to the side and began walking past her. She bounced right back and stood in front of me once more. I rolled my eyes. When was this girl going to quit? She had her arms stretched out like she was trying to stop a tank or something.

"Don't waste your time, Tea. Just let him go," Joey advised from behind me. I stared down at her sternly as she looked up at me with determined eyes. I couldn't help but ponder just how many people would misinterpret this very encounter and actually believe that this was love at first site. Didn't Tea even realize that I could care less about her thoughts or opinions? She really was wasting her time.

"You might be too selfish to figure this out, but if you haven't noticed, we're ALL trapped here as a result of your family business!" Tea looked down in sorrow before looking back up at me, this time looking hopeful and desperate for an alliance, "Don't you realize we can help you find Mokuba?"

I turned my head. I had heard enough of this. Saving my little brother wasn't like doing a chore or doing homework, it was a life's duty and it was a life long priority for me. This wasn't something just ANYONE could do; it was what I had to do as Mokuba's brother, as his guardian. I wouldn't be able to look at myself the same way if I had broken the promise I had made all those years ago to my brother back in the orphanage.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Mokuba is our friend and we want to help him!" I sensed another presence nearby, which meant a distraction to get away from these people.

"I think you've got bigger problems to deal with!" Everyone turned around to see Tristan; or at least, Tristan's body standing atop a cliff near the road. As they all continued to gawk at the site of their friend's body, I slipped away silently and began walking down the road once more.

I was so glad to finally have them out of my hair at last. I would finally have some peace and quiet without any interruptions for me to think. It was annoying enough having them discuss every single little detail of the situation we were in. Those were the kind of reason I liked to be alone. Or at least with…

I stopped and looked by my side. Somehow I had expected Mokuba to be there, even though I clearly knew he had been captured. I suppose I just wasn't use to traveling on my own. It seemed that over the years Mokuba had always been by my side, always ready to go whatever distance I was willing to travel. He would've done anything to be by my side through thick and thin and now he was gone…

I looked up and saw a large, stone flight of stairs in front of me at the end of the road. I assumed that I would have to climb these stairs to get to where Noah was. My eyes narrowed as I approached the stairway and began going up the side of a mountain. I thought back to Yugi and his friends clashing with the Big 5, but felt that if anyone could handle himself, it would be Yugi. I had bigger things to worry about.

I couldn't help but think back to what Noah had told me and that scene we had watched. Noah's story had to be a lie, he claimed that the man who adopted me was his father, but based on the facts he had told, that would make him the same age as me, which couldn't be true. He's clearly just another stuck up kid. I couldn't help but ponder if maybe it had been the Big 5 that had put him up to all this. They would go to any lengths to bring me down… but I know they're much too dumb to come up with a plan like this.

There must be something else to this story, a piece of the puzzle that is missing from my grasp. When I did find that piece, this whole story would become clear in my mind. But for now, I had to find Mokuba and rescue him from Noah's control.

And when I do, I'll show Noah that no one disrespects my family… and gets away with it.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hi guys! Kari here with another grammar concept! Or, well, I wish I was… I like my Spanish class. Okay, that was random. BUT BACK TO THE POINT!:D So, I hope you liked the chapter, I especially loved the first part, which I feel I have a bit of an explanation to give. The first part of the story with Mokuba's POV I realize is very choppy and somewhat out there, but I was really trying to get this lost, confused, and just plain depressed sort of tone for him. I mean, because Mokuba is brain washed, so I felt like it was the appropriate sort of mind set he would have. Also, for Seto's part, I wanted to apologize for the generic-ness of it and how a lot of the lines are the same from the show. You guys may not notice it, but I do try to change up the way they say some things unless it's a really epic line, but for this chapter… it was really hard so I just put it in the way they had it in the show. Wow, this is long. Anyhow, thanks for reading!_

_P.S: To all of those who are WAITING IN AGONY for a Severance and Forlorn update, I have started on Chapter 5 and I'm working my way slowly to completing it! I'm sorry for the wait. _


	17. Chapter 17: Time to Face the Storm

AmePiper: Has anyone ever told you that your reviews make me squeal like a little girl? Well someone should tell you every time you review because your reviews are fantastic! First of all, it was so sweet and awesome of you to include a review for the last chapter! Seriously, you always find such amazing things in all my work and it really drives me to keep going and kicking ass! Persuasive writer? Awesome! If you say it, I'll believe it!(actually the compliment boosts my interest in becoming a speech writer for governors and senators! I'm good at writing, and I love politics, so now I'm excited that maybe I could do that!) Its so nice to hear that I have a stalker on facebook, I love it:] But I have to ask, I was a little confused when you said, "It took me MONTHS before I realized that your most updated album wasn't just a gobbledigoop message, it was actually words running into each other!" I'm not sure what you meant, but I'm sure you'll explain(you're good at explaining, have I ever told you that? I'm somewhat slow to, but you can just explain stuff and I get it right away!) I really do think I'm doing well with this story. I remember many months ago you said this might prove to be my best story ever, and for a while, I thought that… AND THEN I STOPPED CAUSE I WAS FAIL D: But now I'm thinking… yeah, that could totally work(as long as my Severance story can stop taking all the heat, lol) I'm not sure of the things you point out in my story, but believe me, it makes the story for me too. I think the greatest part of being a writer is writing something, just writing it, and finding out you did a really good job with it with specific details and facts. Or the way I conveyed something. I seriously wouldn't think I was a good writer if it wasn't for my reviewers, because I don't see half the meaning you guys do, and I think that's what makes it exciting. I heart you too, but most of all, I heart all your reviews. BUM BUDDIES FOREVER! Enjoy!

MythCreatorWriter: Oh man, copying from the show KILLS MY SOUL. Especially because the English version sometimes has a tendency of killing Seto's character, or simply give him childish lines(read author's note for details) But they also give him a lot of great lines, which I recently discovered, and can't wait to write in the next chapter! The beginning? Yay! I should re-read that to see what made the tears come… I totally forgot what happened at the beginning . Dude, don't be sorry for a long review! Long reviews are what I kill for! Thank YOU for the long review! And enjoy all that you can with my chapter!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review!

SereneShadows: Miss Kari, I love it! It sounds so adorably mature!(although I suppose that should be a good thing… after all I am 18… hahaha, adult, weird.) And thank you, thank you, thank you! You're truly the kindest of my reviewers, and I'm so happy to hear that my stories make you laugh, make you cry, I think basically what every writer wishes they could do with their stories. Yeah, Yugi's pretty annoying, for Seto at least. You'll be seeing more lines like that! And I know! I thought the one part with Seto looking to his side was the saddest/cutest thing ever! And I'm glad you could appreciate it too:] Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 17: Time to Face the Storm

**-S-**

My eyes watched the endless stairs go under my feet, one by one. My head seemed immobile from this position and my physical body dull, and yet my mind was racing in all sorts of directions. I would go through motions of hate; hate for Noah, hate for the Big 5, mainly Nesbitt though for kidnapping my brother. And upon thinking of my brother, I would go through motions of worry and guilt; worry for Mokuba and his safety, worry for whether or not I would ever gain back his loyalty, and guilt for everything I had done to ultimately lose his loyalty.

I didn't want to believe that honestly listening to Lector's story was enough to change my brother's mind about me and completely convert him to Noah's side; that definitely led me to believe that Noah had really done something to his mind. Because when it came down to it, there were a lot of things Mokuba should've hated me for. I wasn't the best big brother, I really wasn't.

I was always working, and sometimes wouldn't have time for Mokuba. I'm arrogant and a complete jerk, and caused everyone hate me, which would lead to everyone hating my brother as a branch of my family. I have so many mental hang ups that I ponder why Mokuba would even bother to work around them for my liking. I find that my hurt pride can sometimes hinder my ability to see logic clearly which distracts me from being an older brother. I'm so messed up in the head that I'm not sure there is any way I could possibly raise Mokuba up and have him come out okay.

I think out of all the reasons Mokuba should really hate me most of all is the fact that I am the cause of his suffering, and I will always be. I will always have enemies; for I am nobody's friend, and as a result, they will always seek to destroy the one thing I hold close. It's the reason we're even in this mess, it was the reason Mokuba wasn't beside me right now, safe and sound. But what would ever make him safe and sound with me? I began to think of how the entire time we had been in this place, Mokuba was never truly safe, and in fact he was in more danger than he ever would've been anywhere else.

Especially back in…

I stopped walking up the long stone stairway and turned around, looking down at the view below. The air whipped against my face, blowing my hair in its every direction as well as the tails of my coat. The stairway I had climbed stretched out for many miles underneath me, and the clouds had covered the landscape down below. I suddenly had this delusion that I was some sort of god looking down on the tiny earth from my heavenly kingdom. But that thought went away when I had realized that I could never truly deserve a heavenly kingdom after what I had done to my poor little brother.

I stared off into the distance, looking for a sign; any sign. I knew I had done my brother wrong, but for right now, I just wanted to make sure he was alright. I knew he hated me, but Noah had to be behind this sudden change in my brother. I had to rescue him before Noah did anymore damage. I knew that if Mokuba could see me or hear me, he'd remember who I was; realize how much I cared and how long a distance I would go to save him.

"Mokuba!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, letting my voice echo across the mountain tops, "Can you hear me? I know you're out there! MOKUBA!" No answer, no reply, no reassurance… nothing, just that cold feeling of being entirely alone.

I shook my head and continued moving forward. When I reached the top of what I dubbed the Stairway to Heaven, there were columns holding up a roof, resembling an empty palace of sorts. I went looking all around, but there was nothing of interest to see. I was beginning to grow very frustrated with Noah. It was still quite obvious that he was only interested in messing with my head. What a coward… What a spineless coward he was, hiding behind his tricks and games, while holding my brother captive. It was despicable.

I walked to the edge of the giant cliff and looked down as I went through another motion of hate in my head. The clouds were floating across the land below, covering anything below it. I wanted the clouds make their slow journey across the land, hoping to calm my mind. As the clouds began to clear, my eyes caught sight of something out of place, something strange.

I gasped and my eyes widened.

It was my design… for Kaiba Land. But how in the world was Noah able to recreate something so personal, something I had kept hidden from practically the whole world? I had to go down to see for myself. There was a pathway around the back of the palace that actually made reaching the ground easier than it had been to climb up all of those stairs. I was mentally cursing myself for not finding it before, but I was more astonished with my discovery of this virtual Kaiba Land I was witnessing.

How was it even possible that it was here? I had never shown the blueprints for Kaiba Land to anyone and I wasn't planning to begin construction for another four years. And yet here it was… down to every last little detail, it was all there and in front of me. I was astonished by the site. I walked along through the mini duel monster park, observing each and every duel monster I passed and never finding a flaw. This couldn't have been possible, how was Noah able to re-create all of this?

I came to a small warehouse at the end; a small chess board had been set up beside the garage door of the place. Even the back-door security system had been included in this re-creation. I took up the knight and moved it up three spaces and over one. The small screen above it flashed "Checkmate" and the garage door opened. I was sure there would be more clues inside, so I walked in without thinking a second more.

It was dark, but still light enough so I could see where I was going. The place was completely empty though… I didn't believe I had envisioned it to be this empty. I stopped suddenly when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A door, another virtual door, probably sent from Noah. I stared at it and grinned. He must've had another flashback planned for me. I was ready for anything.

I opened the door without hesitation, but there was no flashback. Just another empty room, only this room also had a table and an old film projector on top of it. It was different from what I expected, but if I had to take a guess, Noah must've wanted me to roll the film. I walked over to it and flicked what appeared to be on the on switch. The light came on and the film was rolling on the wall opposite from me.

There were short clips of a younger Noah with Gozaburo, playing games, celebrating a birthday, and one even of him on a fishing trip. I couldn't help but chuckle at the images. Noah was still trying to convince me that Gozaburo was actually his real father. It still couldn't be possible, no matter what fake films he could manage to put together.

But then the images changed to something else. There was a clip of my step father leaning against a car, and a somber woman walking towards him. There was a veil over her face, and a picture in her arms. It looked to be a portrait of Noah. She could be heard weeping softly in the back ground. My eyes widened. What did this all mean? Had something happened to Noah? Had he been in some sort of… accident?

"How could this have happened?" The woman asked with a sorrowful tone.

"He can still be saved." That was Gozaburo, my step father. But… what was he talking about? Saved from… what? I had already known, but I didn't quite want to say it out loud. It would make everything I knew make even less sense than it did before.

"But… how?" The woman asked in an even softer tone. She didn't sound very convinced.

"I'll find a way," And Gozaburo sounded… determined. I had never heard him talk that way about anything besides business. Something terrible must've happened to Noah. Maybe he really was… dead. But then… how was he still here? How was he in the virtual world? The film ran out and the screen went black, watching that film had only caused me to ask more questions in my mind.

Why would Noah want to show me this in the first place? What purpose would he have to give me this information? That was, unless there was someone else behind all of this.

**-M-**

I stood there in the back ground. Noah was nearby though, thankfully. He spent a lot of time sitting up on the computer hard drive. There were many virtual screens that he could scroll and look onto, tons of buttons to press. He could basically see the whole virtual world in front of his eyes and control every part of how it worked. In this world, Noah was like god.

For now, he had spent most of his time switching between watching the duel between Joey and Yugi against the Big 5, and the stranger he had called Seto. The audio from these things could be heard loud and clear, and sometimes I would even hear the stranger call out my name. Noah would laugh and ask me if I had wanted to answer his calls. Although this stranger seemed familiar, I had no desire to even meet the man calling out my name.

My declination to his calls would bring Noah even more joy, and he would return to watching the duel. I stood there in the back ground, waiting patiently, having my mind drift in and out. I still wasn't clear on where this place was. But as quickly as I would question its location, I would lose call concern for it as well. With Noah nearby, I felt no need to really desire anything except his approval.

Like any human being, I desired his approval and respect. And Noah would give it to me, whether it was a loving touch on the back, or a soft caress to my face. He had shown me that he cared about me, and that was all I needed. Then I would wonder when and why I had become so needy and eager for love. I'm sure it didn't matter now that I had Noah to be there for me and give me all that I needed.

Noah turned his head and made a sound of disgust. "Those blubbering fools… do they have any idea how much of my time they have wasted? I can't believe I even gave them a second chance!" Noah ranted, jumping out from his computer chair and walking around. I turned my head in his direction.

"What seems to be the problem, Noah?"

"The Big 5… those morons can't do anything right. And when they lose a game, they act like children and try to seize what they desire. Don't they know that's not how it works in the real world?" I didn't know who the Big 5 were, but I agreed with Noah all the same.

"Yeah! Those idiots!" I said, imitating the exact same frustrated tone of voice Noah had. Noah smiled and gave me another comforting hug.

"That's right… good boy…" I closed my eyes and smiled, taking in all the affection that I could. Suddenly I didn't even care that I had become so needy… because a hug was all I needed to keep me going. Noah pulled away though, and I was saddened. "I need to go get the Big 5 and punish them for what they've done. It won't take but a minute to get them, so stay right here."

"But Noah-!" He was gone, disappeared, nothing. I blinked and stared at the empty space he had just been standing in a second earlier. I couldn't believe he had left me… again! I hated being alone… I hated being here… I heard Kemo's voice in the darkness.

'Not so tough now, are you?' I brought my hands up to my ears and shook my head. This wasn't happening. He wasn't here. It was just an illusion, a trick of the mind… like someone use to say… 'You know what annoys me the most about children? It's your innocence, it's your sense of hope. For some reason, kids tend to think that no matter what happens, hope is still obtainable.'

Where was Noah? Where was he? I wanted him to make this bad thoughts go away. I wanted him to make these strange images stop coming back to me. I didn't want to hear Kemo anymore. I didn't even remember who Kemo was! All I knew was that when he was around, nothing good could come of it.

'I intend to kill any and all hope you may have of getting out of here.' I was about to scream to keep the voice from saying anymore, when I saw a flash of light and Noah was back. I ran to him like the lost puppy that I was and hugged him tightly.

"Nii-sama! You're back!" Noah nodded towards me, but it seemed like he couldn't give me his full attention. Five middle aged men were kneeling in front of him, their eyes weary and desperate. I could tell Noah was busy, and I silently took a step back to keep from disturbing him.

"The five of you are pathetic… isn't that right Mokuba?" Noah glanced back at me for a split second, before turning back to the five men and giving them a stern glare. "I hired you all to destroy Seto and his friends, and still, you couldn't handle them."

"Please Sir!" One of them pleaded, "Just give us another chance! We need those bodies… I'm sure if we could just duel them one more time-"

"No," Noah interrupted, "I won't be having that anymore. You five have proven to me that you cannot duel and have no intention of playing fair. That is something I simply don't accept in my virtual world."

"But Noah!"

"Silence! You've done enough. It's time I did what I should've done a long time ago," Noah gave a flick of a finger and all five of them disappeared into cyber space. Although Noah looked frustrated, he also seemed relived and pleased to finally have those five out of his hair. He had another goal in mind now. "I think it's about time I challenged Seto personally, and then I can prove once and for all that I am the one that is the true heir to Kaiba Corp!"

As Noah bellowed an evil laugh that echoed all across… wherever we were, I couldn't help but feel as though something terrible would come of this. But at the same time, I could only feel pity for the poor fool that was Seto. He was about to have his dignity and honor stripped away, and Noah wasn't going to do it nicely.

Now it was all a matter of time before everything would come into place.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello all! Does that even constitute as a sentence? Microsoft Word seems to think so… anyhow! So, okay, before I say ANYTHING of really… nothing important(not that this assessment will be either) but I have to tell you guys, I kind of feel like I understand LittleKuriboh *cue squeals and cheers* Just mainly because when I write a chapter, because a lot of this is along the same lines as the show, I open up usually four to five youtube windows, not to mention two to three windows from random sites for parts of the episodes in Japanese(because I try to come to a nice median with this story, because some lines from Seto such as "What's this? A cheap old movie projector? Get with the times Noah" seem pretty darn useless, not to mention lines like, "Its Noah… nice outfit, dork." It may seem pretty Seto Kaiba, but compared to the Japanese version, Seto isn't nearly as elementary) But ANYWAYS, as you can see, we're moving along quite fine, and I just compared myself to LK, although I'd like to think I have a better record of updating than he does(oh yes I just did… SORRY LK!o) and soon enough we're going to be at the part we've all been DYING FOR. For now, thanks for the reviews/reading this novel of an author's note!_


	18. Chapter 18: Existence is Futile

WhiteAsukalover: Aw, why thank you once more for your wonderful review! Enjoy!

MythCreatorWriter: Woah, not a lot of people reviewed this chapter… odd. Anyhow, really? You had tears in your eyes? Awesome! That means that I'm doing my job right!:D I'm glad you like Mokuba's part. I always find it a bit iffy, but a lot of people tend to like it! It makes me quite happy. Well, you don't need to worry any longer about those forgotten lines, for I'm here to write the story, and to say the lines they never said!(gosh, it makes it seem like I have this enormous and holy responsibility… in a way, or… something… its late x.x) Anyhow, thanks a bunch for your review and enjoy the chapter!

AmePiper: Hi Na Na Face! I heart you! No one reviewed this chapter… it makes me cry ;.; But as always, I shall slip a little review reply in here, just for you, cause you're my little girl :3 Plus, I know your busy and sick and having a hard time, and believe me, I HEART YOU. Wait… I already said this… gosh, I have been completely off today. Oh well, I hope everything is going well in Amey-sexy land! Smile darling, the world loves it when you do! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 18: Existence is Futile

**-M-**

We sat there; watching and waiting. There was a tall, lean man on the screen in front of us. He wore a long white trench coat, and had short straight hair. He looked angry, determined… all traits of a man whom had lost something he had held dear to himself; something he intended to get back by all means necessary. But really… this person's existence meant nothing to me, since the person I held dear was sitting beside me with her arm draped around my shoulder.

"Look at him…pathetic, don't you think?" Noah asked me, staring at the screen ahead. The man walked through two automatic metal doors and near the tracks of the subway. A train in the shape of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon approached and opened its doors. "He's has no idea about who he's about to deal with."

I sat there silently, watching the screen blankly. There was a deep feeling of remorse as I watched the scene play out, but I hadn't the slightest clue why. I felt as though it were my fault that this man was about to walk into such an obvious trap, but… there was nothing I could do, or nothing I wished to do. After all, if my brother didn't approve of it, then I wouldn't either.

Noah tightened his grip around me, all the while nuzzled his head against me. "Don't you listen to a word he says," Noah commanded of me. Suddenly I felt the urge to speak and respond.

"Yes Nii-sama, not a word," I said like a robot. I snuggled up closer to Noah. Things were about to go down, and I had this deep inner feeling that I didn't want them too. Noah began softly playing with my hair, watching the screen with delight.

"You're such a good boy, Mokuba. It pains me to have to leave you," Noah gently removed me from his arms and rose to his feet. I immediately got up as well.

"I will follow you. To the ends of the virtual world, if you wish it." Noah shook his head.

"I'm sorry to say that you won't be accompanying me this time… but not to worry, I'll be seeing you soon enough." I stared at him, looking for answers.

"But why? Where will you go?" Noah pointed towards the screen and I turned around.

"That is the man I must face and defeat in a duel to re-claim what is rightfully mine, my dear brother. I cannot take control of Kaiba Corp. unless I do it." I looked down with shame. Of course I couldn't help him defeat that man… I was so useless after all. Noah placed his hand under my chin and lifted my face to look into mine. He smiled… or maybe that was a grin.

"Don't worry, you will see me soon enough. If things don't go my way… you'll be able to help me." I smiled.

"I will? You mean it?" I asked with excitement. Noah nodded. The bad feelings vanished and suddenly I felt productive. I was happy to have a purpose in Noah's plan. I bounded up and down with excitement, just as Noah began to step away.

"Now you sit and stay right here. You'll be able to watch me on the screen as I duel while I'm gone. Wish me luck." Noah saluted me, just before he snapped his fingers and disappeared. I did what he had asked and sat down. When I looked back up at the screen, the camera was focused on Noah. He was in a different location, standing on a platform surrounded by molten lava.

The camera changed angels, and now it showed a random hole appearing in the sky, just a few feet above the lava, train tracks appeared, and the Blue-Eyes train came to a stop. Seto stepped out of it and onto the platform, also surrounded by the molten lava. Noah stood apart from him, his hands in his pocket, looking confident as always. I pondered how I was part of his plan and how I would help him, but then I stared at Seto.

It caused me to hold my breath as he stood there. His fist tightened by his side and his face was strained with angry emotions. I could tell by his body language, but mostly a deep look into his eyes. He was fighting for someone he cared for.

"Welcome Seto, I've been expecting you," Noah said with stride. Seto's eyes narrowed and he took one step forward.

"Noah! Where's my brother? What have you done with Mokuba?" Seto yelled.

"Oh, you mean my brother?" There was another growl, another look of frustration. Seto gritted his teeth.

"Watch what you say, Noah."

"Oh please Seto, get over yourself and drop the tough guy act. You're not fooling anyone." Noah paused and brought his hand to his face and gripped it into a fist, "The time has come that I will finally prove to myself and my father that I'm superior to you in every single way."

"Then how is it that I'm the president of Kaiba Corp. and you're not?"

"It was the result of an unfortunate twist of fate that never should've happened. My father had always intended to pass the company onto me, until a series of events changed that… but soon I'll be able to regain that position as president of Kaiba Corp. and finally be able to correct the past!" Seto looked down and smirked.

"It won't mean a thing." Noah glared at him.

"What did you say?" Seto looked up.

"How do you expect to run a company when you're already dead?" Noah gasped and his eyes widened. "That's right. I saw those videos and I demand to know what's going on and who you are." Dead or not, Noah was still my brother. These realizations didn't get to me. I would stand by him till the end.

But still… a little part of me… wondered what was going on, and a tiny molecule in me wanted to believe that Seto was a good guy… fighting for a good cause… For now, I would have to wait and see what would happen next.

**-S-**

"So you want the truth, Seto? Well, fine… I suppose it's reasonable to give you an explanation, at least before I destroy you," Noah tapped himself on the forehead, "As you may have noticed, I haven't aged in years. In fact, this isn't even my real body. What's left of me is right up there." Noah held out his arms and looked up. My head turned up as well and looked to the sky. A glowing blue ball appeared as it floated and pushed away the clouds. I stared at it, baffled. What was it supposed to be?

"What is that? Explain yourself Noah!"

"That is a shell, the outer layer that protects and nourishes my brain. It's what holds and keeps my conscious alive." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. That sphere was his brain… it held his conscious? How was that possible? Noah is dead… or… is he? I began to question what I had seen earlier.

"That's supposed to be your brain?"

"Yep, as you said before, my body is dead, but my brain remains in that sphere, which is hardwired to a computer that projects this image of me. I hadn't always been contained to this form, though… I use to be a normal kid," Noah began. I could see this was going to lead up to a boring flashback, but I was more interested in answers than being entertained. "I was the born as the only son of Gozaburo Kaiba, the richest and most powerful man in the world. I was given every luxury money could buy; my father's servants would wait on me hand and foot. I was destined for greatest, and was groomed for success from the moment I was able to walk.

"Professors and educators from around the globe jumped at the chance to teach me. All of the greatest mathematicians and scientists were lured to the front door by my father. He's soul purpose was to help me to become well-rounded and well-educated as the next heir of his company. So as you can see, I was destined to be the next ruler of my father's company, and I would have, if it had not been for a freak accident.

"There's no real need to go into much detail, but as a result of a car accident, I in critical condition and near death. My father did all that he could to save me, it was no use. Then he did the only thing he could do; he connected my mind and downloaded my every thought and memory, turning me into a virtual being whose power is limitless! But then… you came along. Originally my father had only adopted you to motivate and challenge me to help train me to take over Kaiba Corp. But after the accident, that was no longer possible without a body of my own. Until now!

"I am no longer human. I exist only as a file in my father's computer. But once I defeat you in a duel, I'll finally be able to prove that I'm superior to you! Once I do that, I'll upload my mind into your body and return to the real world to take my rightful place as president of Kaiba Corp." I knew he was trying to be serious, but I couldn't help but laugh at him. And I did. I had a good laugh too. "What's so funny?" Noah questioned.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? I mean honestly, the only thing more ridiculous than that story is you challenging me to a duel."

"Then let's duel. What better way to prove myself than by defeating you at your own pathetic game." That was it; I was through with this kid. He was really starting to annoy me.

"Look kid, I've heard enough. I rebuilt Kaiba Corp. from the ground up, I did it all by myself, on my own terms, without any help. The company is what it is today because of me. There's not another person who could run it better than I could, especially not some brat like you," I yelled.

"Really?" A wave of lava shot up from the pool in between us and then fell back down. I kept my eyes on my opponent though. I was going to beat this kid so bad at card games he wasn't even going to have a brain anymore. I was tired of his stories, tired of his monologues; it was time to end all of this. "Then let the duel begin. Choose your cards."

"I already have," I said as I flipped out my duel disk, "And I've already chosen my deck master as well. The monster I chose is Kaiser Sea Horse!" The monster appeared floating beside me as I placed my deck into my duel disk. Already I had a plan in my head, a strategy about to unfold. I didn't think Noah had a clue what he was getting himself into. I was going to tear him apart.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, Seto," Noah held out his own arm and a duel disk appeared attached to it. He flipped it out, and his own dueling deck was installed into his disk. "You're about to lose everything." I smirked. I would've been amused if I didn't already plan to brutally defeat him in a duel.

"I'll go first," I declared, drawing my hand as well as an extra card. I glanced at my hand; I already had a perfect and deadly strategy to use against Noah. He wouldn't know what hit him. "I summon Giant Germ in attack mode!" I announced, placing the card on my duel disk. Giant Germ appeared on the field in front of me.

"I'll also place one card face down and end my turn." I looked down at my card with satisfaction, and determination. Noah made two very big mistakes; his first was taking Mokuba, and his second was challenging me to a duel. Once Noah attacked my Giant Germ, my Crush Card would be activated and would be able to destroy every monster in Noah's deck with an attack over 1500 attack points. This duel would be over before Noah would even have a chance to put up a fair fight. "Your move, step brother," I said mockingly.

"My pleasure," Noah drew a card from his deck and put it into his hand, "I'll summon Chiron the Mage." I was anxious for Noah to make his attack. Chiron the Mage had 1800 attack points, but it wouldn't matter soon. Once he attacked my Giant Germ, it would all be over with. But before the next move could be played, I heard someone calling my name from behind me.

"Be careful, Kaiba!" I twisted around to find, none other than, Yugi and his friends on another platform a couple feet away.

"Yugi?" How was it that every time I was in the middle of dueling someone, Yugi and his friends seemed to show up? I didn't exactly mind them watching me duel, in fact, I liked that idea. I loved to put on a good show for a crowd when I was about to thrash someone at duel monsters. The only thing that really bothered me about them being there was their constant talking and commenting in the middle of the game.

"Wow, Kaiba vs. Noah? This has got to be the show of the century!"

"He can't let Noah win… if Noah wins, we'll all lose!" My eye twitched a little from annoyance. They had used that line at least five times already since we had gotten trapped in this place. I had to really hand it to Yugi; he was the only duelist that had ever bested me in the world and he sure was the best at pointing out the obvious.

"Come on Kaiba, don't lose all focus now that you're fans are here. They came to see a show, after all, and I expect to give them one," Noah said, bellowing an evil laugh afterwards. I hated that kid so much. "Then they shall witness not only your greatest fall, but also my rebirth into the real world!"

"That Noah kid is nuts!"

"Kaiba has to duel him with all he's got to defeat him…"

"I hope he can defeat him, for Mokuba's sake at least." My heart stopped at the mentioning of Mokuba's name. Mokuba… my brother… he was in danger. I tended to get so wrapped up in a duel; that sometimes my mind found it hard to focus on anyone else. But Mokuba… he needed me the most, he needed me to beat this guy and get him out of here. And I wasn't going to disappoint him. Not now, not ever.

I was going to make it up to him by giving Noah the most painful beating he will ever get.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hello one and all, readers of Consequences! So, sorry this came a bit late(6 or 7 days to be exact… isn't that crazy?! I practically took a week to write this!) And really, it's been taking me so long because, I don't know. This story is coming up to one of the most epic climaxes, and I guess I just want to do it right. I started looking over the next couple episodes, dreading having to write the Noah duel, but I realized that I'm going to come across some GREAT arguments between the two brothers, so I'm actually a bit excited. The only thing I'm somewhat worried about is the next chapter ending where I want it to end, but we'll just see what happens. Thanks for being so patient, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_


	19. Chapter 19: Only One

Starlight Luster: Hey bud! Long time, no see! Don't worry about it, I always tell my reviewers its no biggie. Seriously, people get busy and I, well, I get excited. I update a lot more quickly than people can keep up with, so it's understandable. But hey, it's great to hear from you and I'm happy you approve of my story so far! I hope to hear more comments from you in the future, thanks again!

Kukki Boo: Hey hey hey! Yeah, I thought you might. You always did enjoy those sarcastically true one liners;) I remember you saying you hated first person. I'm glad it's not gnawing away at your soul yet, though! Thanks for the review!

WhiyteAsukalover: Thanks buddy! Well, not to shoot you down, but technically he is dead. His body is dead, at least. His brain is alive though/preserved, as well as his conscious. Although you did point out that I forgot to mention I was going off of the Japanese version rather than the English, thanks for that! And also thanks for checking up on me, I'm quite a forgetful person. Enjoy the chapter!

MythCreatorWriter: You might actually be creepier than me!(actually, that would be pretty hard considering, well, me) Writing duels do kill my soul with each typed out word, but the thing is, writing this duel is more painful because there is NO MOKUBA IN IT. UG, it just makes me want to DIE, you know? Mokuba makes my life WHOLE. Well, anyhow, thanks for the review! Enjoy!

AmePiper: I love you more than the sun loves the moon!(Everyone must agree that the sun and the moon definitely have some sort of forbidden love going on there. I just know it! Wow, solar/lunar love… HOT.) I heart you!

Rena Redhead: You must hate me right now, don't you? I'm sorry! I just couldn't hold back after LK's update! It inspired me to no end!o Anyhow, so… I already responded to most of your epic and genius questions you left for me in the review, and I felt I expressed a lot of what I wanted to say as a reaction. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say; DUDE, you rock. Thanks so much for all your reviews. You're what we call a rock star, a COOL KID(gosh, I should NOT write review replies at 12:30 in the morning, I seriously shouldn't) Anyhow, I love you girl, and your reviews make me love myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter, once you look past the fact that you'll probably want to kill me after updating so quickly. Don't stop believing! Thanks for all those great reviews!

_Hey guys, so you know how I love you guys? Well, yeah, I do. Actually, that has nothing to do with what I'm about to say. I suppose you can blame that on me writing this at 12:13 a.m. I just wanted to say that I was inspired to finish this chapter by my dearest Rena Redhead, and inspired to post it by LittleKuriboh. Because dammit, we were closer than brothers! And now we have to fight each other! Can we trust our faith to the heart of the cards? _

_No matter what!(If you guys didn't catch the LK reference that's fine, but you all must know the lyrics to the song I'm referring to! It's only one of the classics from the Music to Duel By CD! Yes, I do have it. Why? Cause I rock the world and your socks:p)_

_Yeah. Enjoy your chapter, guys. You've earned it by being awesome! :]_

Chapter 19: Only One

**-S-**

I turned back towards Noah.

"Oh good, your fan club is here, just in time to witness your demise," Noah commented with regards to Yugi and his friends' arrival. I really hated that kid. Honestly, I felt like part of me wanted to bring Noah down just to see the dumb look of despair on his face. He was such an annoying brat.

"Now I'll continue with my turn. I'll activate Chiron's special effect, the Mirror of Truth, which allows me to see your face down card and destroy it." My eyes widened. That wasn't good. That was my perfect strategy. Noah smirked when he saw what I had hidden face down, "Say goodbye to your Crush Card!" My trap card disappeared from the field, "And don't forget to bid your farewell to your Giant Germ, as well as 800 life points!"

My life points were down to 3200, but thankfully I wasn't completely defenseless.

"My Giant Germ will now return to the field as a result of his special ability," I said, "And in addition to that, you lose 500 life points."

"500 life points is nothing, and your Giant Germ could barely be seen as a threat." Oh Noah, if only he knew what I had planned up my sleeve.

"I've got something else planned for it," I drew a card from my deck and began my turn, "I'll sacrifice my Giant Germ in order to summon my Vampire Lord!" A holographic image of my Vampire Lord appeared on my side of the field. It was time to strike, "Vampire Lord, attack his Chiron the Mage!" I commanded. My duel monster did as I had asked and destroyed it with. Noah's monster burst into tiny little pieces. Noah was down to 3300.

"Are you done yet?"

"Not quite. My Vampire Lord also has the ability to force my opponent into discarding one type of card I choose. And I'll choose Monster."

"Very well then," Noah said, picking one monster from his hand and sending it to the graveyard. "I'll discard my Giant Soldier of Stone." Noah didn't look impressed or afraid. "My turn." Noah drew from his deck and began his turn once more. "Well, it's been fun, but it seems as though your Vampire Lord's time has run out, for I'll activate Fissure!" I grimaced with despair. Fissure gave Noah the ability to destroy the strongest monster on my side of the field. And since I had no other monsters, Vampire Lord was destroyed. This meant I was wide open for any attack.

"Lastly, I'll summon this!" Noah summoned another monster with 1800 attack points. I gritted my teeth. "Attack him directly, Aries!" Noah commanded his monster. Noah's Aries lunged forward, its spear was held out straight ahead. I held up my duel disk just as the blade came close to me. Sparks exploded from my duel disk after the blow was made, and I was pushed back a couple steps from where I had been standing. My life points were down to 1400 now. I didn't like the idea of that.

"Why don't you just give up now and save us from wasting our time?" Noah suggested, smirking.

"Don't give up Kaiba!" Yugi called from behind me.

"Yeah! Show that green-haired twerp whose boss!" Joey commented. I sighed with annoyance. As I expected, they were going to respond to every single thing that happened in the duel. This may prove to be even more annoying than having to stare at Noah's smug face.

"I'll place one card face down," Noah said, ending his turn. Noah still thought he had a chance. Life points wouldn't be the defining factor, though, in this duel, I was sure of that. The way he kept thinking he would beat me infuriated me more.

"I'd rather see my company crumble to the ground, then hand it to you. Kaiba Corp. is mine."

"That company belonged to me before you even knew it existed. It was mine from the very beginning, and it will be mine after I defeat you in this duel." I gripped a card from my deck in preparation for a draw.

"Keep dreaming kid," I said, before drawing a single card from my deck. "First off, my Vampire Lord returns to the field as a result of his special ability, which makes him practically immortal. And that's not all; I'll also summon my Slate Warrior to the field!" Noah looked less than afraid. In fact, he seemed quite confident.

"You can't possibly beat me—we're in my world now." My eyebrows furrowed and I glared at Noah. Who did this kid think he was anyway?

"Look kid, this virtual world is just a rip off of the virtual system I created, you got that?" I pointed my finger towards him, "Now Vampire Lord, attack him!"

"Reveal face down card; Earthshaker!" There was a low rumbling that could be heard from beneath my feet as the ground under me started to shake. The lava was being shaken up and pushed against the side. I was more focused on keeping my balance, and trying to anticipate whatever effect his trap card would have on my monsters. "This card makes it so that you must choose one of your monsters to destroy based on the type you pick. Your Slate Warrior is a Wind type monster, while your Vampire Lord is a Dark. You must pick one, but remember; whichever one you choose will be destroyed."

It would only take me a second, but I knew which monster would be my best bet to destroy.

"I choose Dark, destroying my Vampire Lord!"

"Very well then, Earthshaker, destroy Vampire Lord!" The lava from beneath my two monsters rose up and swallowed my Vampire Lord whole. Although I knew my Vampire Lord had the most attack out of the two monsters, because of his effect, he would return to my side of the field after one turn. For now, I would finish my turn by eating away some more of Noah's life points.

"Now that that's over with, Slate Warrior, attack Noah's monster!" My Slate Warrior moved across the field and attacked Noah's monster head on, destroyed him with one punch. Noah only lost 100 life points as a result, but now his field was wide open once again for another attack. Noah was still 2000 life points ahead of me, which wasn't a good feeling, but I was making a come back. I would make a come back.

Noah looked down and smirked as he drew his next card.

"I'm sure it must be annoying to think you have an advantage, only to have it wash away the instant I make my next move." I raised one eyebrow as I stared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noah looked up.

"This." Noah activated a new magic card. I braced myself for whatever he had planned for me. "I'll activate the magic card, Giant Flood." The ground began to rumble again. I could hear Yugi and his friends pondering what was happening now, and whimpering in fear. I looked more closely and saw a giant wave forming from behind Noah, heading this way. I took a step back and again, braced myself for impact. The wave came crash down into me, almost pushing me off my own two feet, but I remained stable and standing.

When the water washed away, I saw that my Slate Warrior was being pulled in by the current over to Noah's side. "What's going on here?" I questioned Noah. I also noticed that other monsters I had in my graveyard were floating along with my Slate Warrior. What was going on? What did this mean? "Noah, what have you done?"

"I'm using my deck master's special ability." My eyes narrowed.

"You never picked a deck master."

"Oh, didn't I?" The ground began to rumble again as the water began to build up from behind Noah. "Behold, Shinato's Ark!" I watched as a huge ark rose from the water and hovered in the air beside Noah. It was huge and it was powerful, I could tell by just looking at it. And yet, it didn't seem like this could technically be a deck master.

"That boat is your deck master?" I asked, continuing to stare at the massive boat.

"Indeed it is. It will be the vessel that allows me to sail away with everything you own; your company and your brother!" I clenched my fists for a moment, but took a deep breath and let the anger fade. The last thing I needed was for Noah to get to me. If my emotions got out of control, the duel would be lost in no time. But I couldn't help but hate Noah for the way he was talking about my brother in that way. Mokuba wasn't some possession or thing, he was my little brother. And Kaiba Corp. shouldn't be seen the same way either; for that company represented everything I ever worked hard for.

"Speechless, are we Seto?" Noah asked. The boat descended downward back into the ocean that covered the current landscape. Two doors opened up from the front side, all the monsters from both our graveyards and our hands floated into it. The doors closed and the ark hovered back into the air. "Wondering what's happened to your monsters?"

"It crossed my mind," I said, emotionless.

"From now on, all monsters that will be sent to the graveyard shall be redirected into the belly of Shinato's Ark. All the cards shall remain there for the rest of the duel, and there's not a thing you can do about it." I chuckled to myself. Noah didn't seem to understand what it was that I could possibly be chuckling about. "Finding some of this funny?"

"Yeah, and you're the punch line," I explained, "Because of your deck master's ability, you now have no monsters on the field or in your hand, making you an easy target. It's my move, so if I draw a monster, you'll be left wide open for an attack." What it all comes down to, in the end, is drawing all the right cards. In a lot of ways, dueling can only be seen as a fight to the finish. Whoever can take away the most life points the quickest would ultimately be the victor. And that's what I intended to do, with or without that Ark as his deck master.

I drew a card from my hand and glanced at it. "I'll call to the field, Spear Dragon!" My Spear Dragon appeared on the field in front of me, ready to attack when told. This was the time to strike. "Now Spear Dragon, attack Noah directly!" Spear Dragon opened its mouth to form an attack, but Noah seemed to have something prepared.

"I don't think that's going to work, because I have a monster of my own to protect me." I hated it when Noah tried to be vague. I wish the jerk would just tell me what he had planned so we could move on. Noah held his arm straight up, "I'll be using a monster you might recognize; one that dwells within my ship!" A yellow orb floated out from the top of his Ark and down to the field. The yellow orb transformed into Vampire Lord.

"That's my monster," I declared.

"Not exactly, you see, he's apart of Shinato's Ark now. And because of my Ark's other special effect, I can call him to the field in defense mode to absorb your attack. Not only that, but every monster that is sent to the graveyard can be used at my disposal for this precise purpose!" My Spear Dragon attacked Vampire Lord directly, destroying the monster instantly. Noah still lost life points, but he still had the advantage of being able to summon any monster that had been sent to the graveyard to the field. It seemed that I was losing my edge, but I wasn't going to allow myself to lose the duel.

"Like I said before, Seto, this is my world. I control everything that goes on in this place, which grants me the power to do anything I want." The water from the ocean that had formed around us began to drain away and disappear, as the scenery began to change. Suddenly grass covered the land, and I was surrounded by lush jungle. "Welcome to the dinosaur age. Now I'll summon Giant Rex!"

A giant orange t-rex appeared on the field now, and it had a 100 more attack points than my Spear Dragon did. "Say goodbye to your monster!" Noah said, as he had his Giant Rex destroy my Spear Dragon. The dinosaurs gave a frightening roar, before taking my Spear Dragon by the neck and throwing it in the air. It crashed onto the ground behind me and disappeared. My monster was in defense mode, so my life points had been safe for the time being.

"Feeling frustrated, Seto? Is it because I'm more intelligent then you?" Noah pointed upward at the glowing, blue sphere that hovered above both of us, "With each passing second, my brain grows. When my mind was digitized, something extraordinary happened. My brain waves became more powerful, and I was able to absorb vast amounts of knowledge through my father's computer network. Soon, I became a superhuman, one with more knowledge than anyone on Earth!

"But it still wasn't enough. You see, I was only lacking one thing at this point, something I was never able to achieve as a human—and that was my father's trust. But once I destroy you, I'll be able to prove to my father that Kaiba Corp. should be mine!"

I shook my head and smirked, chuckling once more. Noah looked frustrated and annoyed again by this gesture.

"Superhuman intellect? Give me a break." Noah glared at me, I didn't care.

"You're nothing but a lowly orphan, an opponent that was adopted for the soul purpose of challenging me. You don't have anything close to the amount of intelligence I have, so you wouldn't possibly understand what I was talking about." I could tell that Noah was trying to get to me, but it wasn't going to do a thing, because I was better than that and I was better than him. I knew I was.

"You're nothing but a spoiled brat, that's what you are. All your life, people just handed things to you. But I had to work for what I have. Kaiba Corp. is mine because I earned it. The fact that you think you can take it away from me just by winning one duel proves to me what I've thought about you from the start."

"And what's that?"

"You're insane."

"You think I'm insane in wanting to claim what's rightfully mine?"

"No, I think you're insane for trapping me in this virtual computer program and forcing me to duel you just to prove to your Daddy that he's not the failure he thinks you are. Well, I'm here to prove that you are," I said, "There's a reason I'm the president of Kaiba Corp. and you're not."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm the best man for the job. I'm more fit to run that company than you'll ever be, and deep down, your father always knew that." Gozaburo might've been the most evil and heartless man I had ever known but if there was one thing he had always been was smart. Gozaburo knew exactly what it took to run a company and the day I stepped up to the plate and challenged him, without any hesitance or fear, he knew I would be the heir with the ability to run his company. No matter what sob story Noah could tell, it would've been true from the very beginning.

It was true that I didn't believe in destiny, but I did believe that Kaiba Corp. had been destined to be mine from the moment I had seen Gozaburo on the television screen, the day I had promise myself that I would beat him and obtain a life for myself, and my little brother. Noah might've been Gozaburo's only son, but in this case blood had nothing to do with it. It was the heart and the determination that made a man fit to rule an empire.

I was Kaiba Corporation's only heir and always would be.

* * *

**A/N:** _YES! YES! WE'RE SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT! The climatic episode is coming soon to a video you own or on DVD! Or… something like that! Okay, so… wait, do I have to explain anything? Uh… well, the story seems to be ending in odd places, mainly because of word length and what not, but hopefully that won't disrupt the flow I have going on here. Oh yes! And I forgot to mention that I'm kind of going along with the Japanese side of things when it comes to Noah. You know the fact that he's dead, but he's brain is alive, and his memories are downloaded, but still he's dead(rather than his body being "rendered useless" WHAT IN THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN ANYWAY, 4KIDS?!) Hahaha, anyhow, I hope this chapter wasn't too DUELIFIED, that it made you wanna pull your hair out :) (It was for me, I don't know about you) But whatever my short comings were with this chapter, I'm sure to make them better with my next chapter, it's a promise! Thanks for reading!_

_P.S: God, I miss Mokuba;.; THIS DUEL BETTER HURRY UP AND FINISH BEFORE I CRY! I can't stand a whole chapter without Mokuba o_


	20. Chapter 20: Painful Choice

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter!

SereneShadows: Man oh man, you wrote a long review! I hope you forgive me for giving a short and quite shameful review reply, my dear. I'm in somewhat of a hurry and I wish to post this up before the night gets to be too dark! I'm sure you understand. But your words, they clear my mind and brighten the skies! Thanks you so much for all of them! It was wonderful to hear from you! I'll try my best to read your latest story, thanks again for everything! Enjoy!

MythCreatorWriter: I have no idea what made me think that, actually. It's been so long I have forgotten. It's okay though, in the long run, I don't think anyone could be creepier than me… BTW, on a totally random note, last Saturday I was hangin with my boyfriend at my place on a date, and we watched some YGO in Japanese. Can anyone say .EVER?? It was actually really awesome and we were both making fun of the terrible translations and I was squealing over Mokuba's adorableness and it was awesome! Okay, that was TOTALLY random, but I thought you might enjoy it all the same. Well, the fun is just about to begin as we inch closer and closer to the moment of truth! Thanks for your review! Enjoy!

Kukki Boo: Okay, I'm going to be honest, it's been a while since I've last updated so I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say you hate something, but I hope it doesn't bother you anymore! Or at least that you don't hate it enough to kill me(or possibly take my soul? Gosh, I should read my past reviews before replying, hahahaha) Thanks for your wonderful review all the same! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

AmePiper: I love you! I know you're still a wee bit behind, but that's okay, because you have the voice of an angel that could cure cancer just by singing to it!(wow, what a cool analogy… I should use that in a poem of some sort!) Anyway, while I do miss your awesome reviews, I also love you incredibly and am still giggling with love from our last vocal conversation. It's like a dream come true, ONLY IRLROFLLOL! Okay, I'm going to stop being a dork now. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 20: Painful Choice

**-S-**

After being adopted by Gozaburo and raised to become the next heir of his company, I began to believe that every successful business had its fair share of dark secrets. If one were to begin with Gozaburo, well, it would be self-exclamatory; the guy was nuts. If one were to move on to me, I was an orphan, driven my determination and the struggle to survive. If one were to look to Noah, all they would see was a spoiled brat turned vengeful because Gozaburo didn't give him the love he thought he deserved. And after that, the cycle starts all over again.

I suppose, in a way, a part of me wanted to feel bad for Noah as he told his tale of being trapped in a virtual world as his father slowly abandoned him. After all, I had discovered that Gozaburo held the incredible skill of ruining people's lives to get what he wanted. Judging from the story Noah told me, apparently even Gozaburo's own son wouldn't get off that easily when it came to Gozaburo's lust for power. The man as a whole was truly evil.

Still, I couldn't feel sorry for that green-haired brat. Not after everything he had put me through. Even less for doing all this to prove himself to the one man I believed to be the devil himself.

"…After a while, he began focusing on his new family until finally he chose to ignore me completely. He didn't believe that Kaiba Corp. could be run properly by a virtual president." What a load of bull. I couldn't be how naïve this kid was.

"Noah, Gozaburo didn't give up on you because of your virtual state. I think he knew that no matter how much knowledge you gained, you'd always be a spoiled brat, expecting to get ahead in the world without making any effort at all. As despicable as your father was, he understood the value of hard work. It was his own determination that got him where he was, after all," I closed my eyes and smirked, "And as much as it pained him to admit it, I think Gozaburo knew I was the best candidate to become Kaiba Corp. president."

I opened my eyes once more, "As for you Noah, his real son," I stretched my arm upward and pointed towards the glowing, blue sphere over head, "You were better off isolated in your computer world, out of everyone's way!" Noah began laughing. Even his shameless laughs began to annoy me about this kid.

"Oh Seto, that might be the most ridiculous story I ever heard. Come on; my father wanting YOU to become president?"

"Why do you think he created that digital dump for you? You were in the way."

"You actually believe that my father put me here to focus his attention on YOU?" Noah raised his hand, holding out three fingers, "Seto, you always thought you were top dog, but out of the three Kaiba brothers, you're the low man on the totem pole." I chuckled.

"You're confused Noah, that's your slot."

"Why don't we ask Mokuba and see what he thinks, shall we?" My eyes narrowed and I gritted my teeth.

"Leave him out of this…" I said in a low voice. "My younger brother won't be involved in this fight."

"I think you're the one that might be confused, considering he's MY brother now." I decided to ignore that comment completely. There was no use verbally challenging him. It would be easier and more enjoyable to completely obliterate him in a duel, anyhow.

"Let's finish this, it's my move!" I declared, drawing a card from my deck. I looked at my card. It was Pot of Greed. "I'll play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two extra cards from my deck."

"Go ahead; you'll need more than that to defeat me."

"Then I'll use my deck master's special ability, which allows me to summon one monster without any sacrifices, and the monster I choose is Different Dimension Dragon!" I summoned my dragon onto the field in defense mode, while also placing three more cards face down. "I'll end my turn for now, Noah." I was fully aware that Noah's monster was stronger than my dragon and that with one attack he could destroy it, and also destroy my last 1400 life points. Or so it would seem…

"Is that all you've got? What a pity…" Noah drew a card from his deck, looking smug when he saw what the card was. "Looks like this duel will end in my victory, and then Kaiba Corp. will finally be mine." I made sure to keep my face completely void of emotion. I wanted Noah lured right into my trap. I needed him to take the bait.

"I'll activate the card, Deepest Impact!" A yellow beam shot out from the card Noah was holding and streamed straight above him. The sky became a light red, and I could hear Yugi and his friends anticipating something bad about to occur next. Just then, giant, fiery meteors came crashing down onto the earth from up above. One crashed right into my Different Dimension Dragon, causing an explosion. I covered my face as sparks and smoke gusted towards me.

"History tells us that the dinosaur age abruptly ended thanks to a meteor shower. Then the earth cooled off and the ice age began." The scenery all around us began to change. Now all of the landscape that surrounded me became covered in snow, and large snowflakes continued to fall from the now dark and cloudy sky. Noah's Giant Rex began to freeze up and turn into an icicle before titling over and breaking into many pieces. Noah had destroyed his own monster. What effect did Deepest Impact hold?

"I'm sure you're wondering what purpose was behind using my Deepest Impact to destroy both our monsters and cut both our life points in half. It's all part of evolution Seto; it cuts out the weak so that the strong can survive." Noah must've been humoring himself, since I was fully aware that I was the strongest out of the two. He pulled out another card and activated a spell. "My next card is Ice Age Panic, which allows me to summon Last Tusk Mammoth." It was about time he did something.

"Now I can call back to the field my Different Dimension Dragon! He is back on my side of the field, in defense mode." My dragon flew out of a warped hole and stood in front of me. "My dragon has the ability to hide itself in another dimension to save itself from destruction. Now that it's back, and it's more powerful than your mammoth, helping to protect myself from attack."

"Not exactly, Seto. My mammoth will be able to destroy your dragon, no sweat." Now Noah was just humoring me. How adorable.

"Go ahead and attack me, I dare you. My monster is stronger." I was aware that if Last Tusk Mammoth was destroyed in battle, its effect would activate, and both of us would lose life points. Noah commanded his mammoth to attack me, but I had another plan. "I activate the trap card, Ring of Destruction, which destroys your mammoth and inflicts damage equal to its attack to both players."

"Are you trying to destroy yourself Seto? Does this mean that you've finally accepted defeat?"

"Not quite, because now I activate Ring of Defense, which protects my life points, but now yours. Your mammoth is destroyed, and now you're down to 600 life points." It was true that my life points were just as low at this point, but Noah's field was wide open for attack. This duel was close to being over. I drew a card from my deck. "It's time I finished you off and ended this, once and for all."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Then prepare to be amazed; first, I'll switch my Different Dimension Dragon from defense to attack mode. Then I'll discard my Thunder Dragon to the graveyard and into your Ark, but also enabling me to draw two more Thunder Dragons from my deck," I picked out another card from my hand and activated it, "Now I'll play Polymerization to form Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon."

"Uw, I'm SO scared… too bad you can't attack the same turn you summon it. Looks like your twin-headed dragon will have to wait its turn."

"Not quite. For I also activate the magic card Quick Play, allowing my fusion monster to attack the same turn it's summoned." Noah pointed upwards at his floating, boat deck master.

"Have you already forgotten the special ability my deck master has? It allows me to call upon any monsters that Shinato's Ark has absorbed and use them to protect myself." Noah brought his Giant Rex and Solider of Stone back to the field from his ark. I began to laugh.

"You fool. You fell right into my trap. Now I can destroy the rest of your life points and end this family feud." I clicked another button on my duel disk and activated a trap card that had been face down on the field for quite some time now. "I wanted you to use your deck master's special ability, so it would allow me to activate this; Dragon's Rage. This allows my monsters to inflict battle damage to your life points, as long as their attack is high than your defense monsters' defense. And if you can do the math, you can see I've got you cornered.

"I'll begin the slaughter by using my Different Dimension Dragon to destroy your Giant Rex, bringing your life points down to 400. But don't get too comfortable, because as soon as I attack your Giant Solider with my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, it'll be all over." Finally, this long and seemingly annoying duel would come to an end. I could feel myself getting a rush from all this, my heart was pounding. It was the effect the ending of a duel always had on me. Finishing someone off was the best feeling in the world, most of all.

"Now my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack his Giant Solider!"

"Stop!" I heard someone say in the back of my mind. My body froze up and my eyes widened. The voice sounded familiar, almost too familiar. A tiny warp hole appeared on Noah's side of the field, and a figure appeared floating in mid air before landing on his feet. It was Mokuba.

"Mokuba!" I called over to him in complete surprise. What had Noah done to him? The boy didn't respond to me at all and instead held out his arms. As Mokuba stood there, staring at me blankly, he spoke, "If you want to attack my brother, you'll have to go through me." The thrill of the duel had vanished from my nervous system, and even from my thoughts. Now my head was full of worry and anxiety.

"Mokuba, snap out of this!" I begged. I couldn't believe what was happening. And then Noah began laughing once more, but this time with a bit more evil hinted in his voice. He pretended to cower and pointed towards me.

"That's right Mokuba, save me! He's the stranger whose been trying to break you and I apart!" Mokuba let his arms drop to his side, his face was so… empty, as was his voice.

"Stranger…" I titled my head downward, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists. I was angry now. The worry was still there, but the anger was more visible across my face. I couldn't believe how low Noah had been willing to go. This was too far.

"No, it's me!"

"Mokuba has chosen which side he wishes to be on based on his own free will. Looking back, maybe you should've treated him with more respect. I give him the support you never could." Noah wrapped his arm around Mokuba; grinning an evil smile. I didn't like the way he was holding my brother. I didn't like where he was going to ultimately take this duel. I didn't like any of this. "So now you have a decision to make. You can forfeit this duel and hand Kaiba Corp. to me, or continue your attack and risk losing your brother forever. Your brother's fate is in your hands."

I could feel the perspiration forming on my face. My body was hunched over, and my heart was torn. Everything led up to this now. I had never been put in such a situation, especially not one I faced in a duel. If I attacked, I would be able to defeat Noah once and for all, but then Mokuba… I would hurt him also.

"So what's it going to be; control of Kaiba Corp. or your brother? Decide. Your decision will impact the rest of your life." My breathing began to slow. I didn't know whether it was from all the anger that was welling up inside of me, or from the emotional pull I was feeling from having to make a decision like this.

"Noah… Release my brother this instant. He has nothing to do with this… this is OUR fight. Is that clear?"

"There you go again, acting as if Mokuba hasn't a say in anything that involves him." I hated that Noah was taking my words and turning them against me. Noah was obviously messing with my brother's mind. I hated him for that. "Let him know how you really feel, Mokuba."

"Give Kaiba Corp. to Noah right now," Mokuba said, almost robotically. I couldn't stand the sight of all this.

"It looks like Mokuba has made his position quite clear. Now, are you going to attack me or not? If you do, just remember you'll be striking Mokuba."

"You conniving snake." Noah was, in so many ways, like my step father. In fact, if I thought about it, this is exactly what Gozaburo would've done. But it almost seemed as though Gozaburo would've handled it with a bit more class and sophistication, or at least in a way that didn't make him seem like a complete coward playing dirty. Usually Gozaburo was better at hiding that.

"Well Seto? Attack and you'll win the duel, but at what cost?" It was almost like Noah was insisting that I make a move, considering how many times he kept coaxing me. I wished I didn't have to make a move. I didn't want to hurt Mokuba; it was a natural instinct of mine to keep him out of harm's way. But with so little life points, the odds were against me of being able to win this duel without an attack towards Noah.

"So what's it going to be, Seto?" The arm holding my duel disk was beginning to shake from anticipation. I had to make a decision. The duel had to continue. "Your victory or your brother?" I couldn't attack. I couldn't. I exhaled the oxygen I had been holding for quite some time as I spoke.

"…I'll end my turn." It was the only thing I could do. It was the only thing I would've wanted to do. Noah was making a low blow, but I wouldn't fall into it. In my head, I would always be a card player, striving to be the best, fighting to beat everyone. However, in my heart, I would always be Mokuba's brother, his protector. There was nothing in this world that would ever push me to hurt him.

I would continue to keep him safe, even if it meant losing the duel, losing my body, and even giving up Kaiba Corp. I would do it all for him.

* * *

**A/N: **_Just when you think that you're in control, just when you think that you've got a hold, just when you get on a roll, here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again. Oh here it goes again. Sorry, I had to do it! The song, "Here It Goes Again" by OK Go has been stuck in my head for days now… and wow, it kind of actually fits where we just left Seto off right there. Ha! Isn't it funny how things work out like that? Anyhow, so… it's what we've all been waiting for, it's what we've all be peeing our pants for! I thought it ended in a good place, and hopefully I'll be able to get all that I want to in the next chapter. I'm excited! Sorry for the week long waiting period, some of my reviewers were having a hard time keeping up with all my updating sprees on top of their crazy lives! Hopefully everyone understands and is happy. Thanks for the patience guys! You rock!_

_P.S: Mokuba's POV should be showing up in the next chapter, so don't you worry! You'll all get your fill of him soon!  
_

_P.S.S: Did anyone think I was dead? Cause I did!:D Good times._

_P.S.S.S: Severance and Forlorn should be updating real soon as well!_


	21. Chapter 21: One Card Short

MythCreatorWriter: I agree! Let the wonderful torture begin! And oh man, I know. He's kind of amazing and it truly is the perfect date if you ask me. I like writing his murky thoughts! Believe me, it's much better than writing about what's going on in the duel… gosh, I can't tell you enough how much it kills my soul every time I have to write that. But THANKFULLY it's almost over! Sort of… yeah, let's move on. Gosh, you may have to save those tears for the next chapter because… well, you'll see. Thanks for the review! Enjoy the chapter!

WhiteAsukalover: Whoops, my bad! I'm sure it was a late night for me. And I know, checking out your stories is definitely on my to-do list!. Sorry! Thanks for the review though!

Sonny131: Thanks for the review! And I do hope you forgive me for this EXTREMELY long wait. I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated this story… crazy! Thanks for the review!

AmePiper: And you know what separates you from other reviewers? How awesome you are:] Seriously, I loved all your reviews! They were so kind and wonderful it made me wanna run in a circle and jump with joy! And I'm so glad I actually get to write this review reply now because I've been DYING to tell you that that one line you were talking about, the one with "Are you done yet?" and "Yeah, and you're the punch line." Those actually WERE my own lines and were not taken from the series :] Sorry, I felt very proud of myself. Like I've mentioned before many times in my author's notes, I do try to keep the lines original, it's just sometimes there isn't a whole lot of other ways you can say, "IT'S YOUR MOVE, TURN, DRAW, BITCH!" Hahahaha. And dude, I should actually see how you say my name! That would be rad! Woah… my head's starting to feel a little funny… I've been literally writing all day, and now I just feel out of it. I better end this before I start making REALLY awkward comments that we usually keep private in our PMs ;] Thanks for your reviews and I love you!

Rena Redhead: Okay… you wrote… a lot of reviews… and I wanna try and reply to them properly, but at the same time, I'm literally about to pass out. Let's see what happens when Kari tries to respond to five reviews all at once while she's spend the whole day looking at a computer screen, SHALL WE?? Okay… so… wait, Mokuba called Noah Nii-sama? Oh wait, yeah… WOW. I'm already starting forget my own story's plot line… I'm SO out of it. Gosh, but I NEED to write a decent review! Gahhh, let's keep trying to see if I can get it right. HAHAHAHA, Okay, so I was looking at your review and thought I read it all, but then I actually moved down my word document and saw that there was TWO MORE PARAGRAPHS! Lol, it was funny. DARN IT, I'M WASTING SPACE. Okay, I'm seriously going to focus this time(I hope someone is finding this entertaining, cause I sure am… in a, ya know, dead kind of way) Let's see… a lot of your reviews are just saying how you like a bunch of stuff, which is TOTALLY AWESOME, but I think I can get more out of this by answering your questions. Oh here's one! …Crap, I have to go back and re-read that chapter, don't I? DARN IT *reads chapter* Okay, as I suspected to begin with, that scene with Kaiba viewing Gozaburo's story, I wrote it straight on through. I have no idea how you would write one and then write another on top of it, but if I did, I have a feeling I would be far too lazy to do that(I wonder if my readers know how incredibly lazy I actually am…) I have no idea how I managed to write an entire chapter of dueling, either, without any Mokuba appearances. I suppose it was made possibly by me offering a piece of my soul in some way or another. Kind of like how I feel right now after writing two whole chapters and doing absolutely nothing all day… oh gosh. But hey, congrats on getting up to date! Now you won't be!:p Hahahaha, just kidding, thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 21: One Card Short

**-M-**

They say that if a person loves something, eventually they'll have to let it go. I don't know if I ever believed in such philosophies, and I'm not sure if that was the philosophy I was thinking of as I stood there with my life on the line. I suppose I was use to this sort of situation, this idea of sacrificing myself for someone I loved and cared about. It was somewhat of a common place for me. I guess that was why I wasn't scared when I was standing there on the battle field, one command away from being blown into the ground by Seto's duel monsters.

Thankfully, though, Seto had decided to step down. I don't know why, but he did, and for now, I was safe. Whoever this Seto person was, it had become clear he was having a hard time having me do this. The agony on his face, the look in his eye, it almost made him seem… human. Noah's laughter could be heard from behind me, ringing in my ear from the back ground with rejoice.

"Oh Seto, I knew you were too weak to go through with your attack. You can't possibly run a company like Kaiba Corp. if you're so quick to give into your competition," Noah said, mockingly, "Well done, Mokuba." Noah said, addressing me. I turned back and ran towards him.

"Thanks," I said with pride. Noah placed his arm around me, and I suddenly felt whole again.

"We make a mighty good team. Now, how about we finish this guy off, what do you say?"

"Yeah," I said, turning to look back at Seto, "Let's do it." I didn't know how, but I was ready to do anything possible to help Noah defeat this man. I knew not who he was, but if Noah said he was bad, then I was willing to defeat him in any shape or form. This Seto guy wouldn't know what hit him till it was too late. I had the fire of a true fighter burning within me.

"Now it's my turn," Noah stated, drawing a card from his deck. "I'll use my Deck Master's special ability again…" I couldn't help but space out at this point once again. I had a lot of trouble concentrating on much of anything, but I stood by Noah all the same and kept my guard up. One couldn't be too sure what Seto must've had up his sleeve. As Noah continued his turn, the look on Seto's face became more shocked and nervous.

Although I couldn't pay attention to what was going on, I found that I didn't need to. See, the great thing about duels is that a person doesn't need to know or even pay attention a lot to figure out what is going on. Depending on how nervous the other duelist looks and how many monsters they have on the field protecting them, one can pretty much assume whether they are in a good place or a bad one.

It was most certainly clear by the look on Seto's face that he wasn't exactly in the most powerful position in the duel, and that he probably didn't have anything that was able to change that for right now.

"Oh man, one more attack and Kaiba's done for!" I heard the blonde person say from afar. Seto's apparent cheer leader squad, as I had come to know that gathering of people. The short person with oddly colored hair that stood next to the blonde stepped forward as well.

"You're right, Joey. And if Kaiba loses, Noah gets to take over his body and return to the real world to run Kaiba Corp. himself! Then he'll leave us trapped here in the virtual world," The short, spikey-haired kid said. Was that the plan Noah was plotting? I couldn't be sure. My memory was a bit shot at this point, and I didn't know why either.

Noah continued with his turn, activating a magic card that destroyed all monsters on the field. I watched as a dark hole appeared in the middle of the field, sucking away all monsters that had been present. I could hear the crowd that was standing a few feet behind Seto pondering the events that were going on.

"Now that all those monsters are destroyed, they're transferred directly into Shinato's Ark," a brown-haired girl commented in the back ground.

"That means he has even more monsters he can use now," a random black-haired boy said in addition to the girl's comment, "Which means he can boost his life points even higher." I found this constant commenting quite annoying, but the thought went away as I heard Noah declare the end of his turn. I smirked. Even though I wasn't fully aware of what was going on, I was sure that Seto stranger was in a bit of a rough spot.

He was going to need a lot of luck getting out of this one, and now it was his move. Seto was going to have to be smart and use his turn wisely. Just thinking about it brought me the sadistic pleasure that I was sure Noah felt too from this very situation he had put Seto in. I prepared myself for a good show.

"It's your move, Seto."

**-S-**

I stood there, firmly, above the ground. I was standing tall, but I felt… weak, and confused. I looked determined but I was actually heavy hearted. All I could think about was Mokuba. I had sworn in my heart to be a father to him and to protect him. How could he have been turned against me? Maybe I had mistreated him. I thought back to Kaiba Corp., when I was executing my plan to take over. There was a part of the plan that Mokuba hadn't been aware of, a part where I had pretended to be against him.

I remembered all too well the way I played the part perfectly. I could still see Mokuba's frightened face as I had taken him by the collar of his shirt and thrown him against the wall. He had pleaded for my forgiveness, and pleaded for his innocence, and I had pretended not to listen to him, throwing him to the ground in return. But it was all part of the plan, that was all, and it had to be done to defeat our step father. It was the only way we could've been saved from that mad man.

I came back to reality and out of my thoughts, finding that Mokuba was still not by my side. Things couldn't end this way, they just couldn't. There had to be some way of talking him out of it. Without thinking, I did just that.

"Mokuba, we're a team! Don't you remember? You were always there for me. We defeated our step father together! I couldn't have done it without you." Noah had begun laughing at my pleas, his arm tightly wrapped around my brother's shoulder. The sight disgusted me, but also brought about pain.

"That's very touching Seto, but Mokuba's on my side now." I stood standing still, finding it hard to breathe from time to time. What was I going to do? How was I supposed to win? Just the fact that Mokuba wasn't there mentally was hard to bear, and having to stand there, alone, against him was even harder. There had to be some way to break him out of this trance he was in and save him.

"Kaiba, I have an idea!" I heard Yugi call from behind me. Although I was skeptical to even listen to one word Yugi had to say about the situation, I found myself turning his way anyway.

"I'm kind of busy, if you haven't noticed."

"Kaiba, I can help you. I've experienced the same thing. Don't you remember when Joey was brain washed by Marik and he had been turned against me? I'm sure there's a way to get through to Mokuba the same way you got through to Joey! The answer might be in your deck." My eyes widened. That was it. I knew exactly what I had to do.

"Will you people ever shut up? Don't you see Seto has a duel to lose?"

"Guess again, kid. Not only am I going to win this duel; I'll also win back my brother!" I said turning back Noah's way. "If I were you, I'd watch out for what I'm about to do next." With that, I courageously drew one card from my deck and looked at it. I cringed. This wasn't the card I needed.

"Disappointed?" Noah asked. I was going to make an effort to wipe that little smirk off his face.

"Not exactly, for now my Different Dimension Dragon can now return to my side of the field, and I'll put him in defense mode and also end my turn." For now, my plan was to stay alive long enough to draw the card I needed. I stood silently, waiting for whatever Noah had planned for me next.

"Is that supposed to be your line of defense? How pathetic," Noah said, "But before I begin my turn, how about we change the scenery? I'll warm things up a bit and put an end to the ice age." The scene around us began changing as Noah continued babbling. I didn't pay much attention to what Noah was saying, but more of what was going on around me. There was no longer a snow covered landscape surrounding us, but instead a huge grassy field. There were trees and flowers, and in the far distance buildings as well as…

"Kaiba Corp.?" Noah smirked and turned back to look at it.

"Ah yes, isn't it magnificent?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Wanna explain yourself, Noah?"

"Well, I figured this was the company we were fighting over, and considering the fact that I'm going to defeat you and take over your body," Noah turned back towards me, "I thought you might want to see it one final time. For you see, once I defeat you and take over your body, I plan on changing Kaiba Corp. back to the way it was and back to the way things were supposed to be!" Noah drew a card from his deck and slammed another one from his hand onto his duel disk.

"How bout I give you a little sneak peak of what I plan to do? Just in case you've forgotten how the old Kaiba Corp. once was." Instead of a monster appearing on the field in front of Noah, it came out from the roof of Kaiba Corp. The rounded top opened up, revealing a jet fighter monster, or rather, Gradius, and launching it off of the launching pad over to the field. I watched it fly overhead and hover over the field. "Then I'll add the magic card, Matter Leveller, which increases its power by 100 every time it attacks."

Even with that card to boost its power, my dragon remained in defense mode and saved my life points from any damage. I was safe for the mean time.

"That's not all; I'm also going to equip my Gradius with the magic card, Cyclon Laser, which allows it to inflict damage to a monster it destroys, even when it's in defense mode." No, that wasn't good. I held up my duel disk and prepared for attack. Noah commanded his monster to attack and I watched as his Gradius powered up its laser and shot a beam out towards my monster. My monster was destroyed instantly and my life points dropped to 600.

"Since your monster has the ability to return to the field every time it's destroyed, I can continue to attack it until you have no life points left." I watched as my dragon appeared from the different dimension once more and returned to my side of the field. I gritted my teeth. If I could draw the card I needed, I knew I would be able to turn this duel around. I drew one card from my deck, still nothing.

"I'll leave my dragon in defense mode and end my turn."

"That's the turn of a man who has given up. I knew you were no match for me. And once I defeat you, I'll finally be able to run Kaiba Corp. the way I was meant to." I looked down in shame. Truly, this kid was delusional.

"You may be able to control this little virtual fantasy land, but there's no way you'll make it in the real world." Noah became enraged by this, and it brought me joy to know that I had struck a nerve.

"I'm aware of what it's like to live in the real world, and I have no doubt that after ruling this virtual world, running Kaiba Corp. will prove to be a simple task; one that I was raised to do my entire life, until you came along and took everything away from me. Well now it's my turn to return the favor, first I took your brother and next I'll take your identity." I stood there, looking seemingly bored and unshaken by Noah's comments. Thankfully Noah took the hint and moved on.

"Let's get back to business, shall we? I'll begin my turn by playing Gradius's Option. Because I have one Gradius on the field, this allows me to create a second one. Now, Cyclon Laser, fire!" Another beam shot out from Noah's Gradius and hit my Different Dimension Dragon. I held my duel disk in front of my face and closed my eyes as the wind pounded against me from the blow. I felt my footing slip and my body was pushed backwards, but I struggled to remain standing. I straightened my back and looked down at my duel disk. My life points were down to 500 now. I couldn't keep this up much longer.

I watched as Noah turned to Mokuba with a satisfied grin. "Are you enjoying the show, Mokuba? This duel should be done in no time." Mokuba nodded his head in agreement. I looked up at him in anguish. I was beginning to lose strength in my body and in my spirit.

"Mokuba…" I said in a raspy voice.

"It's no use, he's with me now. How does it feel to lose your only friend?" Noah laughed at me once more before completing his next move, "Now I'll use my second Gradius to attack your dragon again, forcing you to lose another 100 life points!" Another laser shot out from his second Gradius and fired at my monster. I held my arm over my head, but the blast seemed more powerful now and I was much weaker. The wind blew against my body, and I lost all control. Gust pushed me into the air and caused me to fall to the ground in shame, my life points down to 400 at this point.

"This… isn't over yet…" I said, slowly trying to push myself back up from the ground.

"Look at the mighty Seto Kaiba now!" I ignored him and looked up at Mokuba. It couldn't end this way. I knew what I needed to win.

"Mokuba, please snap out of it. I need you in order to beat this guy," I begged. Mokuba looked back at me, emotionless, unfeeling. There was nothing in his cold, forbidden eyes to tell me he was on my side. I slide my hand forward as I got onto my knees and worked my way up from there.

"Getting back up for more? Obviously you enjoy me thrashing you in a duel more than I do."

"No way… I'm not done with you yet," I said, pushing myself back up and onto my feet, "It'll take more than a couple attacks to keep me down, and now it's my move." Noah didn't look the least bit threatened; he could easily tell I was standing on my last leg. And with only 400 life points, the odds seemed in his favor. It took everything in me to remain standing; my body was shaking from the weakness in my limbs.

"Maybe you should've just stayed down, Seto. It would've made it a little less painful; don't you think so, Mokuba?" I gripped my fist. I had to keep fighting, but looking into those emotionless, cold eyes only seemed to help the draining process of whatever energy I seemed to have left. I only had a couple turns left, and there was only one card that could bring my brother back.

One card and a couple more turns in the duel was all I needed to get Mokuba back and win this duel, even with the couple scraps of life points I had left. I could do this… I could do this… One card, that was all.

This was it.

* * *

**A/N:** _OH MY GOSH, IT'S FINALLY COMING UP, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! So yes, I'm sure you're all frustrated that this ended around the part that we have ALL waited for, and yes, I'm pretty frustrated too, but damn it all, it's finally going to happen in the next chapter! It will! There's no denying it! Honestly, I'm a little annoyed it didn't happen in this chapter, but too much went on and I ran out of room. But DON'T WORRY, that means that I have an ENTIRE chapter to dedicate only to the most epic, and most touching Kaiba Brothers moment you all know and LOVE! If I were you, I'd be rolling on the floor dying with excitement! Sorry, SORRY, that I haven't updated this in about five billion years! Don't ask me what happened, ask my cat. Just kidding, my cat had nothing to do with it. I promise a much quicker update, especially with such an epic brother fluff moment on the line! Thanks for reading and GET EXCITED FOR MORE!_


	22. Chapter 22: Wonderful Brotherhood

MythCreatorWriter: It's FINALLY here! Okay, so I was totally going to go and write a new chapter for Severance but I thought, 'no' I need to write one for Consequences. This is probably the most epic brother fluff scene in the history of mankind and I am not going to keep putting it off! And in the end I think it turned out quite nicely, I hope. But now I'm DOUBLE MORE EXCITED for the next chapter because it's going to be even MORE epic than the last chapter!!! Yeah, I know, that'll be hard to beat, but just you wait! It's going to be awesome! Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks buddy! You're not so bad yourself!;] Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Rena Redhead: It seems as though all my reviewers are dead to me now… is it because you started reviewing again? If I find out that's true, than you better stop reviewing because I miss those other guys' more! I'm just kiddin' Rena dearest, I heart your reviews the most:] And I'm very proud of you being up to date on my story! But you're still not up to date with Severance… I wonder why, could it be that *gasp* YOU LIKE CONSEQUENCES MORE THAN SEVERANCE?! Cause if that's true than someone will finally love the story that is my favorite more than-actually, Severance has kind of become my favorite in the last few chapters(which is funny since this is the epic brother fluff chapter, I can't believe I'm saying such slander) But Severance has more opportunities to be original than this one… makes it more fun!(and then I don't have to friggin reference every single second of every part of one effing episode!o it's SO annoying!) Mokuba's POV is probably my favorite to write. Not only does he not focus on the duel going on(THANK THE LORD) but also because he's so daydreamy and out of it that I can really go all out on random stuff. Like, if you've noticed, my stuff will always start out so randomly and cleverly with Mokuba's POV. It's awesome. And no, I don't know how amazing the last chapter is, but I know how amazing this one is! Thanks for the review, enjoy!

_I wanted to say something emotional and in depth since this is one of my favorite episodes of all time, but I can't seem to think of anything so I shall leave you all with a couple lyrics I had in my head when I imagined/wrote this scene and chapter:_

**Are you gone and onto someone new?**

**I needed somewhere to hang my head, without your noose.**

**You gave me something that I didn't have, but had no use.**

**I was too weak to give in, too strong to lose.**

**My heart is under arrest again, but I break loose.**

**My head is giving me life or death, but I can't choose.**

**I swear I'll never give in…**

**I refuse.**

Chapter 22: Wonderful Brotherhood

**-S-**

My energy was draining slowly and I found myself at a loss of words. My heart was in the right place, but having that wasn't going to win this duel for me. At this point, I knew I couldn't win relying on pure skill. I needed my brother, his support, to help me through and encourage me to keep fighting. Without him, the duel had already been lost.

I stood there, hopelessly looking on at my brother as he stared back at me with those emotionless, dark eyes. I was drawing a blank; I didn't know what to do. I couldn't keep defending myself; I didn't have enough life points. I had to fight back, but I couldn't without worrying for my brother's life.

From the look on Noah's face I had a feeling he could read my expression and knew just what I was thinking. This caused him to smirk in my direction, internally laughing at the predicament I was put in.

"Oh Seto, you're almost too pathetic to even look at. Maybe you should just end your turn now and let me give you the final blow," Noah turned towards Mokuba, "What do you think, Mokuba? Should I destroy him now?" I gritted my teeth, preparing to shout all sorts of vulgar things in Noah's direction, when I was interrupted by another voice calling out from the sidelines.

"Mokuba, don't listen to him! Noah is just trying to trick you; Seto is your real brother and he's never let you down!" It was Yugi that was the one yelling and I'm going to be honest, his voice is usually annoying to listen to. But it didn't matter this time because as I watched Mokuba from across the field, I saw him bring his hand to his head and close his eyes. Yugi seemed to have sparked a memory of some sort by saying such things which let me know that was how I was going to bring my brother's memories back.

"Look inside your heart and you'll remember him!" As much as I absolutely, with all my heart, hated to admit it, Yugi had the right idea and for once, I was going to take the advice he had given me earlier. This is was the only shot I had left. I understood that it was time to be honest with myself and the situation at hand; I was going to lose if this didn't work.

I took a deep breath. It was time to lay all my cards out on the table, something I wasn't use to and never taught. I was going against my own instinct to prove a point and get my brother back. I looked up.

"Mokuba… this is going to be my last turn. I can't fight you. The only way I can continue to fight is if you're by my side. Whether it's now or the future, this can never change," I pulled myself back up into a more straightened position, my body still shaking with weakness. But I continued on with what I had to say, "Don't let Noah lead you astray. You're the only family I have, and no one could ever change that. We've always been there to support one another and we always will be."

I couldn't stop myself from giving the honest truth and telling Mokuba exactly how I felt. Mokuba was the most honest person I knew, and honesty was going to be the only way to awaken his memory. Although the idea of spilling my heart in front of Noah and Yugi along with his friends didn't appeal to me, I couldn't care less. Because this was so much more important than pride, this was about family. I knew that if I let this chance slip by, I would be going back on everything I've ever believed in and the one person I truly loved.

"There's something I've never told you, Mokuba. Something I've been too proud to admit for my entire life. And that is… that you once saved me!" I saw my brother's eyes widen, his expression brighten. Even his emotionless eyes couldn't keep from the shock on his face. It was working, and there was still so much more to say. "When we were adopted by Gozaburo, he was merciless and forced me to study for hours and hours with no rest. There were so many times I was exhausted and ready to give up. I felt I had no strength to go on. But then you inspired me…"

I looked down and smiled fondly as the memory came to mind, my eyes noticing a glint of light that was reflected off of the locket I was wearing. I continued on, "When you made that card for me, you encouraged me to not give up, to keep living even in my darkest hour." I brought my hand forward and transformed it into a fist, "You gave me something to strive for! That day I decided I wanted to become a man worthy of possessing a real Blue-Eyes!"

For a split second, I saw a sparkle of light in Mokuba's eyes as he lost himself in reverie. I could sense that he was beginning to remember, that he was beginning to understand. His lower lip quivered just before a single tear rolled down the side of his face. He uttered one word.

"Nii-sama." He squeezed his eyes shut like he was in pain, his teeth clenched.

"That's right Mokuba… I knew you couldn't forget about me. You're strong, and I know you can break out of his control! Never give up!" The memories beginning to break through to him, now was the time to make my move. This was the only chance I had. I brought my hand forward and then back onto my deck. "We can do this… together!" I drew the final card and lifted it into the air.

'Please let this be the card I need…' I thought desperately to myself.

My eyes closed shut and I held my breath. Everything was relying on this one card now; the duel, the company, but most of all, my brother. Never in my life had I hoped for one card only to get me through. It all came down to this. Slowly, I brought the card down and opened one eye. I gasped when I saw what card it was; the exact card that I needed it.

It was time to kick Noah's ass.

"I'll place one card face down and activate my deck master's special ability. With the power of Kaiser Seahorse I am allowed to sacrifice only one monster in order to summon the all-powerful, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Winds began to gust all around me and the sky grew dark with grey clouds. Out of the lightning bolts that sparked from the sky, my dragon was born and rose into the air, bellowing its cry as it echoed in the distance.

I looked back down and over at Mokuba. He was looking up at the Blue-Eyes fondly and with recognition. I had done it! I had brought Mokuba's memory back!

**-M-**

Standing there, wide-eyed, I saw it. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, in all its glory, flying above me. "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon," I found myself repeating without meaning to. It began to come back to me. All the memories I had stored in my mind all along, from different times with blank faces became known in my head. It was Seto all those times whom was there for me. It was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that had stood strong as a symbol of our bond. It was love for each other that had kept us alive from our step father's wrath.

There was one particular memory that truly made me realize exactly what Seto was to me, what he meant to me. The daydream I always had as a kid. It was the one where I was flying in the air, away from Gozaburo, away from everyone, on the back of an almighty Blue-Eyes. Not only that, but Seto was by my side as well. We would be able to fly away to a place where we could be together forever and no one would tear us apart. Where I could be with my brother and he would be able to smile without fear or regret.

Brother… A smile…

In that instant, I remembered him. Seto Kaiba was my brother. I understood it fully and completely. Never in my life had a realization hit me so hard and fast. Seto was my older brother; he was my Nii-sama, and no one else. I blinked my eyes for a moment and found myself looking at the battle field I appeared to be standing on.

"Nii-sama…" Seto stepped forward, his eyes scanning my face to see if it was true that I was addressing him and no one else.

"Mokuba!" I felt my heart race as I began to try and recall the situation I was in. I was overcome by fear.

"Nii-sama!" I called back. I looked around. What was I doing over here? And why was Seto over there? What had been going on? "Why am I…" I didn't even get a chance to finish my sentence. I heard Joey call over to me.

"Get away from that guy, Mokuba! He's been controlling you this whole time in order to keep Kaiba from defeating him!" Although the matter was still a bit fuzzy in my mind; that was all the information I needed to get a move on. The fear had soon past and I shot a disgusted look in Noah's way before leaping off of the platform and away from Noah. My fear was replaced by my anger towards Noah and what he had used me for.

"Here's your chance!" I heard Yugi shout. Things were happening so fast, I couldn't even keep up with my thoughts or focus my concentration. I looked up and over at my brother.

"White Lightning Attack!" I heard Seto cry at the top of his lungs. A formation of white light appeared in the jaw of the dragon before it was shot out like a beam towards Noah's Gradius. The aircraft instantly blew up from impact and because one had been destroyed, the other Gradius hovering under it exploded as well. I smiled with pride and excitement. Now my heart was racing for the right reasons, Seto was going to win this.

"YEAH!" I called out with honor. This brought Noah's life points down to 4900. I couldn't have been more ecstatic. I could hear Yugi and his friends cheering for my brother's victory as well.

"Noah's out of monsters now!" Tea exclaimed. I turned towards my brother, smiling with pride, until I saw my brother's face. He was weak, and appeared to be growing weaker even with his Blue-Eyes on the field. Seto was hiding it well, but I could see through his act. That was when I realized my brother only had 400 life points, meaning Noah was still in the lead.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet; I still have my deck master and its special ability. And with the fall of five monsters total, I get their attack points added to my life points." I was horrified and afraid. This meant Noah gained another 2500 life points, bringing him back up to 7400. How was my brother going to be able to bring Noah down now? Noah now had 7000 more life points than Seto.

"This isn't good," Duke said, stating the obvious. I hated the feeling of doubt, especially when it was doubt concerning my older brother, but I couldn't help it this time. The odds were against him. I couldn't see how he could make a comeback now.

"Now I believe it's my turn," Noah said, drawing one card.

"Wait just one second, Noah." Noah looked up at my brother and I did as well. He had a grin on his face wide enough that it couldn't possibly be considered a bluff. Seto had something planned, something Noah wouldn't see coming.

"What is it?" Noah snapped. Seto laughed in response.

"I've got you right where I want you now. There's no escaping the fate you are about to face. This will be the final battle that truly determines which one of us is the superior Kaiba."

"What do you mean?" Noah asked, he sounded like he was worried too. Who could blame him though? My brother sounded like he was being completely serious. I was left wondering the same thing as Noah; what did Seto have planned?

"There's only one turn left, and now I will activate the trap card, Last Turn!" The ground beneath us began to rumble. Winds began to pick up and swirl all around us, dirt and minerals began twisting in the air with the wind. I looked back at my brother with a worried face. I really hoped Seto knew what he was doing because my doubt wasn't going away.

"This card requires each of us to choose one monster to engage in one final battle. Whichever monster remains standing is the winner, determining the victor of the duel, no matter the life points. A one on one battle to the finish; may the strongest duelist win." Thos final words sent a chill down my spine for some reason. My brother was taking a making quite the gamble here, but it seemed like this was the only option he had left in winning the duel. "I choose my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

I turned towards Noah.

"I choose my deck master, Shinato's Ark!" Noah's hovering ark floated over to the middle of the field. I was sure Seto would find this amusing, but he didn't appear to. No, he was determined. He was going to take Noah down and take him down good. I watched with anticipation as Seto ordered his Blue-Eyes to fire the first attack. I smiled as the blast collided head on with Noah's ship, blowing it to smithereens. This duel was done.

The ark burst into flames, pieces of wood started flying everywhere as the ship began to crumble in mid-air. I could hear Yugi's friends cheering with excitement. Seto was looking quite smug with his victory, until Noah revealed himself from behind his duel disk. He was smiling.

"This duel isn't over, Seto. For you see, now you have unleashed a power that you have never seen." The smoke that had formed in the air blew away; a small glowing ball had appeared in the center. And from that ball of light, another completely different monster had been born.

"What is it?" Seto asked, covering his eyes from the light.

"That is my REAL deck master. Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" I couldn't believe it, it couldn't be possible. But it was, and worst yet, the monster had 3300 attack points. Enough to destroy… I gasped. "Shinato, attack Seto's Blue-Eyes!" I watched in terror as Shinato formed a glowing ball of energy and fired it right towards Seto's Blue-Eyes.

The blast struck Seto's Blue-Eyes as if it had burst right through the dragon's heart. Seto's monster was destroyed instantly. It created an even bigger explosion, flames bursting at a larger magnum with a blow that sent Seto off his feet and back onto the ground. I had covered my eyes for a moment to keep from the light blinding me, but I was able to see enough to realize that Seto was in trouble.

"Nii-sama!" I called out. Noah began talking about something, but I didn't care, I wasn't listening. I was off before I even had to think about it. Running seemed almost automatic as I sprinted across the field over to where my brother was. Seto had already begun to make his slow process back up and onto his knees. His head was hanging low; his face was darkened with defeat.

"Hey Nii-sama!" I called out to him as I ran over to where he was kneeling. He looked up, when he saw me; he gave a weak smile in my direction.

"Mokuba…" He said fondly, weakly holding out his hand towards me. I had leaped onto the platform on which he was kneeling and was running towards him; my own hand was reaching out towards my brother's. Just as our fingers were about to touch, a blast was fired towards us and blinded our vision. Everything began to turn white.

I felt my body begin to slow down and come to a complete stop. I couldn't hear my brother's yell, for I was yelling in pain myself. Something started to consume me and my body; it felt like every bone in my body was being crushed as my limbs grew heavy and froze in mid-air. The last thing I was able to see was my brother's outstretched hand before my body became completely immobile.

This had to be the end for my brother and me. We were finished. "Yes, I'll name it 'Wonderful Brotherhood'" I heard Noah's voice echo in the background as I slowly began to lose my sight and consciousness.

A single tear had managed to trickle down the side of my face before everything went white.

* * *

**A/N:** _And that's the way the cookie crumbles! And it also happens to be how the story ends. 22 chapters is my limit if you haven't noticed, folks. Yep, it's over, all done-JUST KIDDING. Oh MAN, am I kidding! And do you want to know exactly why I'm kidding? Because I am JUST getting started people, this will most likely be my longest story yet! Now, you might be wondering, well, what happens next? Do you just skip to where Yugi wins the duel? Do you do it from Noah's point of view? NOPE. I'm doing something COMPLETELY original and different and let me tell you, I couldn't be more excited!(you have no idea how OBNOXIOUS referencing those damn episodes is for me, it's gets SO obnoxious trying to read every single emotion in an episode and have to re-type it all in an artistic way) Next chapter is going to be AWESOME. So stick around, if not for the hot chocolate, than the most original scene I've had in my head for this scene for many years! Thanks for reading, you guys rock!(as always)_

_P.S: 22 is my favorite number, so yay that my favorite scene is in this chapter!:D_

_P.S.P: Lol, that's a game system. Anyways, the lyrics at the beginning of this chapter came from the song "Best of You" by Foo Fighters_


	23. Chapter 23: Face to Face

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I love that song too. I was thinking of making that last chapter a song-fic, but I felt as though with all the POVs changing and then on top of song lyrics, it would be a bit confusing. Nah, they won't have anything to do with being stoned, but it is a bit deeper than I'm sure people are ready to expect. Anyways, I wish to post this as quickly as possible (mainly because my cat is starving and I haven't fed her yet) but thanks for the review!

Rena Redhead: Yeah, not sure where they all went, but I kinda wish they would come back. Oh well, its fine, I'm sure it's something important anyway. Nothing to worry about. It's okay if you don't remember the episode, the only reason I do is because I've seen it a bazillion times(and even with that, I still have to re-watch a bazillion times more to write the chapter correctly. Annoying, neh?) What Noah did is most definitely, or at least probably, not legal. But that's the show (or maybe just the virtual world) its hard to tell since it is the virtual world and no one's ever had a 'deck master' before and the effects they use all seem a bit strange, but you work with what you've got. Anyways, thanks for the review and keeping up! Prepare to be amazed and excited!

_Here's more lyrics from the song I had previously quoted before("Best of You" by the Foo Fighters), because I feel it still pertains to this story and the scene that is about to unfold:_

**Has someone taken your faith?**

**It's real, the pain you feel.**

**The life, the love you'd die to heal.**

**The hope that starts the broken hearts.**

**You trust, you must,**

**Confess.**

Chapter 23: Face-to-Face

**-M-**

I heard this loud banging. Or, no, it sounded more like tapping. Someone was tapping on a thick glass of some sort. How obnoxious, where was it even coming from? It ceased at one point and at last, I felt I could finally be at peace. That was until a muffled voice started calling my name from afar. I think that was what brought me back and helped me come to. I opened my eyes and looked up.

The first description I had for this place was whiteness. There was nothing but whiteness, everywhere, as far as the eye could see. This didn't, however, help me to understand where I was or why I had been sent here. The muffled voice picked up again as I sat up and turned around. I was astonished to see Seto standing a couple feet away from me. He looked happy to see that I was okay.

"Mokuba, you're alright." Something came over me and I began to run towards him. I was so happy to see him, so happy to know he was okay even after that… that, thing-had attacked us, whatever it had been! Seto started backing away and shaking his head. Why was he doing that? I was overjoyed to see him; didn't he feel the same way? "Mokuba, wait-"

I didn't wait, I ran right to him. Just as I came near him and prepared to tackle hug him, SMACK, I fell to the ground.

"Hey, you okay?" Seto asked in a worried tone. I had to steady myself for a while to regain my balance; I was still a bit dizzy from the collision. I slowly got back to my feet and looked back in my brother's direction. Slowly I reached out towards him; my hand came into contact to the glass force field I had run into previously. I placed both hands on it.

"What in the world…"

"I tried telling you, but you didn't listen to me." I knocked on the force field a couple times. It really was glass. That was the tapping I heard. I looked back up at Seto.

"What is this?" Seto shrugged.

"I don't really know. Some sort of glass wall." I knocked on the glass again. It seemed pretty thick to me. It probably wouldn't break easily. But if it was a wall; that meant it would have to end… at least at some point. I turned towards my brother and he already seemed to have picked up on my idea.

We both began walking opposite directions from each other and down the wall. I kept one hand sliding across the thick glass, trying to see if there was ever a point when the wall would end and I would be able to walk around it to the other side. Seto was doing the same. But no matter how far we walked, it seemed the wall never did come to an end.

"I have a feeling this might go on forever," Seto called over to me from the many feet had walked away. I looked back at him.

"You're probably right," I called back. We walked back until we met up with one another again. We stood in front of each other now, awkwardly. I placed my hands on the glass and stared at my hands. I slowly began to put pressure on the glass, trying to see if maybe I could push the glass down. It was no use, no matter how hard I pushed; it didn't budge or crack at all.

"I don't think that'll work either." I turned back around to see what was behind me. There was nothing, nothing but nothingness. This place was starting to creep me out by how isolated we appeared to be. I quickly turned back towards my brother.

"Where do you think we are? What is this place?"

"I'm not really sure, but I think it might be a glitch in the system because we're not where we're supposed to be." I glanced at him with interest.

"Where should we be instead?" Seto paused for a moment.

"If Noah used my same blue prints to create this virtual world, then we should be in, what I dubbed, No Man's Land." I wanted to chuckle at the silliness of the name, but I didn't. The situation we were in simply wasn't something to chuckle at right now. I looked around.

"No Man's Land, huh? Is there a reason you made it so boring?" I asked in a monotone voice, finding myself getting more and more freaked out by the situation.

"No, I specifically remember designing No Man's Land to be bit more interesting. I guess Noah slacked off a bit when he created this place." I shrugged. "I guess this means we're not in Kansas anymore," Seto added. I glared at him.

"This really isn't the time to make overused references." And the truth was; I wasn't. My mind slowly went back to recalling the duel I had just witnessed, what Noah had used me to do in order to win over Seto. Then sending us here, after he had his random new 'deck master' come out of nowhere? It made me more and more mad as I thought about it.

"I can't believe Noah, is that even legal what he did?" I asked, becoming frustrated, "I mean; Shinato's Ark becomes Shinato, King of a Higher Plane? I didn't even know you could choose a magic card to be your deck master, let alone have your deck master turn into something else in the middle of a duel! He broke the rules!" I started pacing back and forth. I was surprised Seto wasn't more outraged by this fact. I stopped and turned towards him. "Aren't you angry about this?!"

Seto looked down.

"I had a feeling he might pull a move like that from the beginning, I'm sad to say. After he brought you onto the field to use as a shield, it was clear he wasn't going to play fair. I just tried my best to beat him my own way, and by the book," Seto gripped his fist, "And I still failed…"

"It's not your fault Noah is a cheater, you didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't be hard on yourself because of that." Seto turned his head away.

"But I should be, for if I had only prepared myself for a move like that, one I had a feeling he would make, he never would've beaten me, and we wouldn't have been stuck here." I frowned at this statement. My brother wasn't one to take failure well, so when it happened he either got insanely angry, or massively depressed. I hated seeing him this way. I hated being here. I got angrier.

"Well I don't know what you're so depressed about because I'm just plain pissed. I want out of here. I need to get out of here so I can make Noah pay for what he did." It was weird having the roles change. Usually Seto was the one that got angry over something someone did, and I would be the voice of reason. Not this time, though, not after what he did, not after he controlled me.

"Stand back. I'm going to punch through this glass." I took back my arm and readied myself to launch it right through the glass when Seto told me to stop.

"That won't work either, Mokuba. You need to calm yourself down. Noah wants us to get upset." I glared at him again. Now I was becoming angry with Seto.

"You think Noah wants us to get upset? We're in No Man's Land. We're not being watched right now, Noah doesn't care. He's probably already taken over our bodies! He's probably in the REAL WORLD, laughing at us!" I prepared myself to try and break through the glass again but again, Seto called for me to stop.

"Please, cool it for a minute; you're just going to hurt yourself." I couldn't stand Seto talking down to me like that. Who did he even think he was? What gave him any right to lecture me?

"Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid! I know my limits; I've experienced more painful things!" Seto placed his hand on the glass. He was trying to look stern and unemotional, a wonderful trait he picked up from our step father, but sorrow was breaking though. Something was upsetting him. I was too angry to care. I was too frustrated to even predict what would be said next.

"Like you did in Duelist Kingdom?" My eyes went wide. My arms dropped. My jaw fell slightly ajar. I turned away from my brother's general direction.

"Don't," I said in a deadly tone.

"Mokuba, I saw what happened. Noah showed me those memories; I know what they did to you." I twisted back his way to yell at him.

"I said NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT."

"Mokuba, we need to talk about this. Why wouldn't you tell me?" I crossed my arms and looked away again. Now all my anger had switched from Noah to my brother.

"You know what? I wish you hadn't brought back my memory! At least then I wouldn't have to remember what happened! At least Noah wouldn't pester the living hell out of me about it!" I found my language becoming a bit more vulgar, but I didn't care. My mind was already warped with anger.

"I'm your BROTHER; I have a right to know what happened! I have to be the one to make sure every person whom ever hurt you gets what they deserve! Why couldn't you have just told me?"

"I told you, it was TOO PAINFUL. Do you understand English?!" Seto was really started to get mad at me. I had never seen him mad, but at this point, I didn't care. I wanted to fight with someone. I wanted to get this anger I had harbored inside for so many years to go away. It was time to let go.

"That's not the only reason you didn't tell me, I know it's not! Just spill it!" That was it.

"Oh, okay. You wanna know the reason, Seto Kaiba? You want to know? BECAUSE IT WAS ALL YOU'RE FAULT! The only reason I was kidnapped in the first place was because YOU abandoned me! You left to 'go find yourself' and didn't even bother to think about what would happen to me!

"I waited for you. God, I would wait for you all night long. You never did come. And I was left to think and wonder where you were, pondering why you would even leave me to begin with! Then when you finally came, Pegasus sends me to the Shadow Realm! So you still wanna know the reason I never told you? You still need to know the truth? I never told you a single thing because at one point I gave up all hope on you ever coming to save me.

"And I HATED you for it. I hated you so much. I wished you had never been my brother. You let me down. You let me fall into Pegasus's clutches and I had to wait a long time before you ever showed up to save me. What took you so long, Seto? WHY DIDN'T YOU COME FIND ME?" I had to take in a deep breath to fully regain all the oxygen I had lost in my long rant. Everything I had ever kept buried inside myself for so long had finally come out. I was so twisted with emotion; my body was shaking from saying it all at once.

I didn't even realize I had started crying halfway through the rant. It was probably because the rest of my body was already having such a hard time dealing with what had been said. I had kept this dark secret of mine for a very long time now, and it having said it out loud in words was doing a number on me in every aspect. It was making it hard for my body to even function normally.

Truly the hardest part, though, was being experienced by my brother whom I was sure was blown away by hearing the truth. I noticed this because I had never, in my entire life, seen my brother speechless. I had grown-up believing my brother knew everything therefore meaning he would have a response to anything that ever came his way. Something witty, something clever, he always had something to say. Not this time though, not at all. His face was pale and his eyes dulled with regret.

He didn't speak and I didn't want him too. Things were coming out now, things had to be said. My thoughts couldn't be stopped. I turned away from my brother; I was unable to look at his speechless face. I turned my back to him and leaned against the glass wall.

"Every day, I hate myself for hating you. I hate myself for not being stronger. I hate myself for not being truthful. I hate myself for how much I depend on you. I hate being you're little side kick, I hate not being my own person. I hate everything I've ever done to you, everything I've ever cost you. I hate that I killed mom. I hate that dad died. I hate that you carry the pain and that I'm just supposed to go on living. I… hate… this…" My legs finally gave way and my body slide down the glass to the floor.

"So… that is how you feel…" I heard my brother say in a voice so soft; I wouldn't have been able to recognize it if I hadn't known it was him speaking to me.

"Yes." I heard a thump against the glass wall behind me and felt another body slide down the slick glass. My brother and I were now back to back, staring in opposite directions. I sighed; I didn't know what to say, or what should be said. Everything had come out now. I assumed it was his duty to speak up and make it right again, he was, after all, the older brother.

"Hey Mokuba…" My head perched up at the calling of my name.

"Yeah?"

"You know how… I hate the feeling of being vulnerable?" I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Yeah Nii-sama… I'm quite familiar." He paused.

"I hate this feeling even more." I opened my eyes.

"What feeling would that be?"

"That I… let you down, and that I've lost your trust because of it." I heard Seto get up again. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, an experience that kills me inside…" I turned my head. I pondered what he could possibly be trying to get at. I stayed silent and listened. Seto took another long pause to gather himself and prepare for what he was about to say.

"I never told you what happened… after I left, while you were kidnapped. I tried my best to avoid telling you completely, because… I didn't want you to think less of me. But I think, as a result of what I let happen because of it, that you have a right to know about it. You deserve to know what happened, and what it was that kept us apart while you were being held captive by Pegasus."

Truthfully, I didn't know if this was at all what I wanted to hear from my brother. I didn't know if this would make things better or worse. I guess what I did know was that… I wanted to know. All that time I had spent in the dungeon at Pegasus's castle, I could wonder about nothing more than what my brother was doing to keep him from rescuing me.

I needed to know everything in order for us to really be okay.

* * *

**A/N:** _You know, before I start talking about my chapter in depth, I wanted to say something that came to me as I was writing the last little bits of this chapter. One of the biggest things I remember from my childhood was wanting to hold onto that naïve state of mind I had when I was younger, wanting to continue to believe in better things, and wanting to hold onto that image of the world that had never been broken till now. I say this because this chapter really reminded me of how I use to view my parents as a kid, and how I felt when I discovered they weren't super humans or gods… but human beings, just like me, with flaws that seemed almost unforgivable. Now this isn't to say that my parents aren't amazing people, believe me, they are. But this is about breaking that image of immortality they once held in my eyes and seeing something new, both good and bad. I'm saying all of this because I feel Mokuba is going through the same situation, and will discover the same thing in the following chapter as everything is revealed. Besides that, I liked this chapter a lot, I hope you liked it too, and I hope to hear from you guys soon._


	24. Chapter 24: The Truth Will Set You Free

WhiteAsukalover: Yeah, and Mokuba's not one to get angry. Um, the 'I never told you' speech itself wasn't in Captivity, but basically everything he mentioned in his speech and said that happened was in Captivity. But, hey, thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

MythCreatorWriter: Aw, darn! I feel like every time you're about to cry something stops you! Darn, I hope this makes you cry(that sounds so cruel, but you know what I mean, right?) Yeah, I like the surrounding too, I picked this sort of all blank/white place so that nothing would be there to distract them and the characters would really have to interact for each other for the first time, face to face, when they really confront each other's issues. I also wonder if you like the fact that there is a glass wall in between them because it sort of represents the whole "so close, but they'll never touch" sort of thing that's going on. I'm sorry to say that what he does is not much different from the show, but how I go about it/present it makes it interesting(kind of like Captivity as a whole, just from Seto's POV or story telling powers) The song is fantastic, you should definitely get it. Thanks again for the review!

Chapter 24: The Truth Will Set You Free

**-M-**

"So…" I began after waiting patiently for a long time. I was sure Seto was nervous and I didn't want him to rush, but he had left me hanging with a story I had wanted to hear for a while now. I heard him sigh and it got awkward again. I thought this talk would never begin…

"Alright… I'm going to tell you, but… try not to interrupt, okay? I can only say this once and you know how hard this is for me to do…" I wanted to respond to him by saying, 'What? You're finding it hard to talk to your only brother? How did that happen?' but he didn't want to be interrupted and I wanted to respect him for that. He took in another glorious breath and began.

"It all started after Yugi beat me." I wanted to give a frustrated sigh but didn't. The thing was; I had already heard this sob story before! Surely Seto wasn't intending on making me sit through another angry rant of his about how it couldn't have been _possible_ that Yugi had beaten him, how it was _improbable_ that Seto lost to an amateur like him. But something in his voice told me this wouldn't be the same story.

"I guess…" Seto paused, "I guess that's where it all began, really. I'm not going to lie; I was… a terrible, terrible person, back then. I was greedy and cruel, willing to do anything for power. I lost sight of everything that use to mean the most to me, and certainly everything I had wanted to accomplish after I had gained my title as CEO of Kaiba Corp.

"But back then… I didn't know that. I was so consumed by my own selfish goals, I was never really able to look in the mirror and see what I had become. I didn't realize it then, but when I looked in the mirror, I would see Gozaburo's smug face looking right back at me. I hated the man, but I wasn't aware I had become him.

"After Yugi beat me, everything that had consumed me had suddenly disappeared. It was like I had been blind, but now I could see clearly. Only the strange thing was, when I looked in the mirror, I didn't see Gozaburo, I didn't see my reflection, I didn't see anyone; just one confused and pathless man.

"For the first time in my life, reality had really hit me, and I realized that I didn't know who I was. I couldn't look at my work the same way; I couldn't look at my dueling deck the same way, hell I couldn't even look at you the same way." I became tense as my brother had directed his speech towards me, but remained silent.

"I was kept up for hours in the night, not because of the nightmares, not because of work, but because… I had no idea what I was doing there. I felt like I was trapped in someone else's home, in someone else's life. Mokuba-" Seto had stopped himself in mid-sentence before continuing on, "I didn't realize it then and you probably don't know it now, but… I was raised to be someone else. That was the only explanation for this strange wake-up call.

"That was why I had to leave. I felt like I had been living in someone else's shoes for so long, I had completely lost sight of who I was or what I even wanted anymore. Nothing made sense." I still wasn't pleased. This talk had given me great insight, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. Not to mention I was waiting for him to tell me the whole story in that he would tell me what he had been doing while I was kidnapped.

"So where did you go?" I asked with a slightly sarcastic manner, hoping to speed things up.

"Well, for a while I just wandered. I literally hopped in a car one day and just drove away in a random direction. Halfway through the day I got the idea to visit my hidden lab off the coast of Japan and study duel simulations to try and understand how I had lost. It sounds stupid, I'm sure, but even in the midst of my crisis, I still seemed to fall back on the one thing that always calmed me down, even as a kid. And that was duel monsters.

"I had this bizarre idea that…" Seto chuckled to himself quietly, "If I could figure out how in the world Yugi had beaten me, maybe I would be able to figure out who I was again. I'm not sure what the logic was in that, but that was what I did for many weeks on end. I worked tediously, day in and day out, programming a holographic devise which would later be known as a duel disk, while still trying to understand how Yugi could've beaten me under such circumstances.

"After countless computer simulations, probability scenarios, and quantum analyses, I had finally come to a conclusion that went against everything I had been raised to believe. Although I had the upper hand through-out the entire duel, although it was clear I possessed the most power, Yugi had something I didn't have. And that was the motivation, the heart. Yugi was fighting for something that was worth more than just winning, he was fighting for his Grandpa, while I was simply dueling to destroy and humiliate him.

"It was then that I completed the Duel Disks that I would then use to have a re-match with Yugi, no matter where we were. I was sure that now that I had learned what it took to be a great duelist, I would surely be able to win over him. But just as I had, Pegasus had sent out a couple of his goons to stop me. I didn't have much time, they both had guns, and I had to get out of there. In order to stay alive, I had to-"

"Wait!"

"Um, yes?" I couldn't believe this.

"They had GUNS?!" I exclaimed with total shock.

"Yes Mokuba, they had guns. You do realize that Pegasus wanted to kill me in order to take over my company? It was the reason he kidnapped you to begin with."

"But how in the world did you get away?"

"I did what I could on the fly. They fired their guns at me, but I was able to deflect their bullets with my briefcase. I kicked them down using my office chair and did the next best thing I could do—dive out the window." I shot forward and turned my head.

"You dove out a window?! Where did you land?!"

"I just barely caught onto the side of a cliff. It probably the reason Pegasus's goons didn't shoot at me, they must've thought I had fallen to my death." My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it. My brother was a natural born James Bond! My emotional side tried to take hold of my rational side, but I couldn't help it. That was just plain cool. My brother had jumped through a window and survived by hanging onto the side of a cliff while holding a briefcase! It was just too good to be true.

"Then what happened?! And how did you manage to climb up the side of a cliff with a briefcase?"

"To this day, I haven't a clue how that worked out. But it did. Then some alternative rock music started playing in the back ground and I had managed to make my way back to the Kaiba Mansion. I snuck in through the back way to go into my under ground computer lab, which is when I found out about you being kidnapped and began figuring out Pegasus's sinister plan.

"I was able to hack into Pegasus's data base and then tinker with the duel that had currently been going on between some fake Seto Kaiba and Yugi." My eyes widened and I got to my feet.

"I remember him! He was that weird clown thing!" Seto got up and turned towards me.

"Wait, what? A clown thing?"

"Uh… never mind, it doesn't matter. Then what did you do?" It was strange; hearing all of this for the first time after so much time had passed since it had all happened. It was reliving the past but from a different perspective. It was cool, and it seemed to explain a lot of the things that were going on underneath it all. My anger seemed to vanish slowly as Seto continued to reveal his own battles he faced at Duelist Kingdom.

"After that, I didn't waste a second more. I flew my helicopter to the island itself where," Seto sighed, "I unfortunately ran into Yugi. The good thing was I got my deck from him, and I don't really want to explain the annoying thing that happened afterwards. But anyway, so as I was making my way towards the castle, when Kemo attempts to attack me out of nowhere with a gun-"

"WAIT, he had a gun too!?"

"Yes Mokuba, how are you not getting this? Didn't you figure Pegasus was a violent and sadistic demon after what he did to you? Now imagine what he probably wanted done to me, well, besides taking my life." I hadn't thought of it that way. In fact, I didn't think much of the danger my brother was in at all. That time spent in the dungeon after getting the snot beaten out of me, well, it's somewhat reasonable I hadn't been able to think of what Pegasus might do to Seto. But still, it was a scary thought.

In a way, Seto coming to Duelist Kingdom was probably what Pegasus wanted him to do, it was a trap. Seto could've lost his life… he must've known this too.

"So I got Kemo to lead me to where you were, but then that bastard sent off the alarms halfway through the tunnels to the dungeon. That was when I got to you, but not long before…" Seto looked away from me. We were now standing apart from each other, face to face. "Pegasus… he sent you to the Shadow Realm. And then he said the only way to get you back was to duel him, but he wouldn't let me until I defeated Yugi in our rematch and gained ten star chips."

My eyes widened for a third time. Uh oh. I knew what that meant. I knew what any face off against Yugi meant. It would always lead to trouble.

"What… well, I mean…" It was hard to find the right words to say this, but I knew I had to formulate them somehow, "So how did it turn out?" Seto turned back towards me, but he didn't look happy doing so.

"I won." I gasped. I was about to congratulate him on his victory over Yugi, when he continued, "But it wasn't a fair game." I cocked my head to the side.

"Did you… cheat?" It was an odd thing to suggest to my brother, Seto Kaiba, the one man on earth that would give his life rather than give away the honor of playing a fair duel. Seto was very hard on sticking by the rules, cheating just wasn't something he did. Only in the most desperate of situations… Seto sighed.

"I threatened my own life, and Yugi forfeited." I furrowed my brow.

"Nii-sama…" Seto placed his fist on the glass and leaned forward as he looked down.

"I would've given anything to save you, Mokuba. And I mean it, anything. Doing what I did in that duel was despicable for me, and you know that because you understand how strongly I disagree with cheating. But this was different, this had to be done. I had to save you." I was in… shock. My brother had broken the rules of the duel, not only that, but risked his very life, to save me. It was crazy because… probably while this was going on, I was in the Shadow Realm… hating him. I cringed with guilt.

"Because I was able to beat Yugi and gain access into the castle, I faced off against the very man that had caused all of that trouble, Pegasus. But it wasn't easy; he had some sort of method of knowing my very moves and attacks. This was what caused my downfall, and made me lose the duel," Seto continued to not look me in the eye, he was too ashamed. This time the pain was quite evident on his face. "I had never felt so… unworthy. I had lost the duel, lost my only chance to save you, and even lost my soul after that. But I didn't even care about that or being sent to wherever I had gone, because failing you was a more painful thing to live with, I felt I deserved it for letting you down."

"But Nii-sama! You didn't deserve it; you didn't deserve any of that! Pegasus had cheated; you would've won if he hadn't. I know you would've. Why were you so hard on yourself then? Weren't you angrier about what Pegasus did?" Seto looked up.

"I was angry at myself for letting you down. With or without Pegasus cheating, I should've been able to win, but I didn't." Seto sounded frustrated, but his responses were answering my questions, and it just seemed out of character that he hadn't been royally pissed about Pegasus cheating. Kind of like how he wasn't mad about Noah cheating, either. It just didn't make sense.

"But why are you saying that? Why do you beat yourself up so much?"

"BECAUSE I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU," Seto yelled, slamming his fist onto the glass, "Because you're my brother, and it's my responsibility to look out for you. I will admit, yes, I do get angry easily at my employees when they fall short of their duties, but when I fail to do my job, the one I've carried all through-out my life even before I knew Kaiba Corp. existed, there's no excuses. I can't let myself off the hook for that.

"Mokuba, when Mom and Dad died… I made a promise to myself, to be the parent you needed, and to help you survive. So far… well," Seto let his fist slide down from the glass to his side, "I haven't been able to do that. But I promise you with my life, that we're going to get out of here, that I'm going to get you home, and that you'll be safe and sound." It was quiet, very quiet. But I still had something to say myself, hopefully something that would make Seto feel better about himself and our situation.

"Nii-sama, please don't treat yourself like this. Remember, we're in this together. And even though you're the older brother, that doesn't mean that I don't have a job of my own to look out for you. You don't have to carry all the burdens of the world… I can help you. We can carry the load together, like any other family would." I placed my hand on the glass in front of me, looking at my brother. "Are you with me?"

Seto stood there, motionless, as he was staring at my hand. I knew he was worried about what would happen, like he always did. Although my brother was known to act fearless, he was actually very afraid of many things. But he looked at me and he smiled, he knew that together we would make it through, just as we had made it through all those many times before. He placed his hand on the glass exactly where my hand was and looked up.

"I'm with you till the very end, Mokuba." We stood there apart from one another, smiling with the promise that had been made and would be kept. Suddenly the sound of cracking could be heard. I looked down and saw that giant cracks in the glass wall between us began to branch out from where our hands where on the glass, glowing with a bright, white light. The ground underneath us began to shake.

"Woah, what's going on?" I began to lose my balance. Out of nowhere, the glass wall between us tumbled and shattered onto the ground. A giant hole seemed to be forming under us, like the one that had brought us here from the first place. I looked up and saw my brother not to far off and lunged towards him.

"Mokuba!" Seto stretched out his hand, much like before after Noah had obliterated his Blue-Eyes.

"NII-SAMA!" I leapt forward, my hand reaching far enough to lock onto his just as we began to fall into the black, swirling vortex below. I could feel my brother pull me in, his arms wrapping tight around me. I closed my eyes shut and prayed that whatever happened next wouldn't be enough to kill us.

Everything was different. This time everything went black.

* * *

**A/N:** _La la la, oh hey, I didn't see you there. How's it going? So, I had a lot of ways I could've formatted this chapter, but I decided to keep it the way that I had because it seemed to fit best. I know I rushed a little with some parts, but other parts I think I really explained well. In other words, I was quite pleased with this chapter. I know the past two chapters have been from Mokuba's POV but that was to make up for all the dueling that was done in Seto's POV. But with the next chapter, I'll probably go back to alternating between the two brothers. Although this seems like the climatic resolution, if you know the Noah Arc well enough, there's more where that came from and a lot more original scenes to present to you! So enjoy and thanks for reading!_


	25. Chapter 25: Tales of Betrayal

MythCreatorWriter: I will most likely make it up to you, don't worry. I wish I could move forward with my other story though, everyone really wants to see how I kill off Gozaburo and I really want to show them! Wait, I shouldn't be talking about my other story in a time like this… wow, I'm really ADDing bad today. You have that CD now? I feel like the Foo Fighters owe me money since I advertised their song and got you to buy their CD. Yeah, the looking the mirror part was my favorite part of his speech, which was what I was hoping would make up for the generic-just-like-the-series back story he told. That sounds like an awesome icon too! Thanks for the review!

Sonny131: Thanks!:D I was hoping someone would like that. ;)

Rena Redhead: Mokuba's age always comes into question for me when I'm writing these revealing scenes because I think I make him sound way too mature. I think the fact, though, that Mokuba kept interrupting Seto sort of brought him back to his 11-year-old self. But I can't be too sure, can someone be mature and then not mature? I'm not sure. I'm sick and tired right now, so everything seems a bit blurry. Like I keep saying, you keep making my story sound more awesome than it is, and I gotta tell you thank you for that! I get the feeling I could make an actual story just out of your own reviews because you write them so in-depth and descriptively. Hahaha, it's almost better than my own story! Thanks for the reviews, enjoy! (ONLY ONE MORE WEEK AND 3 DAYS AND I WILL BE DONE, I HOPE. I DREAM. SCHOOL SUCKS.)

Chapter 25: Tales of Betrayal

**-M-**

I felt detached and afraid. It seemed like we were falling, and my body seemed to float away as we fell forward. I couldn't be too sure; I still had my eyes closed. I didn't want to see whatever was happening to me. The only solace I had was the grip of Seto's hand holding mine. That was the only thing that let me know we were going to be okay. I held on as hard as I could.

But then the opposite began to happen, my body grew heavy and came back together again, but now I could feel Seto's hand slipping out of mine. I opened my eyes out of fear and looked towards him, our hold had already broken. He looked afraid.

"Nii-sama!"

"Mokuba!" And BAM! In a flash, we had hit the ground. But it didn't feel like we had hit the ground, it felt like we had simply jumped back into another world, the one we had been in before. I broke out of my stone-like pose and lunged forward when I finally got out of my trance, landing in my brother's arms. Seto swung his arms forward and held me tight as I let my body sink in against his chest. It had a truly calming effect over me.

I buried my face in his shoulder and sighed with relief.

"I was so scared," I said with an honest simplicity.

"You don't have to be anymore," My brother whispered back. That was when, for the first time in many years, I truly felt safe and connected with my brother again. Our bond might've gone through some rough patches, but all in all, it had been restored and never really lost to begin with. It just needed some repairs.

It was the happiest moment I had experienced since we had been trapped here, just being with my brother, in his arms.

"Our bodies are restored… that must mean that Yugi won the duel!"

Unfortunately it was a moment that had died in an instance and vanished. These brotherly moments of ours had the tendency to happen very little and last even less. Seto let go of me and got up, switching his attention to Yugi's friends. I shrugged; Seto could never astray from what had to be done for too long anyways.

"What? What duel?" Tea turned towards him and smiled.

"Your duel, Yugi took over after you and Mokuba were turned to stone. Then he combined your deck with his deck and managed to beat Noah using it!" Seto looked down at his duel disk and found that his cards were missing from their slot.

"He dueled, using my cards?" I could hear the frustration in his voice, but I was taking a different approach towards this. I was just happy to be alive and no longer in that 'No Man's Land' place anymore! I made a mental note to thank Yugi later when Seto wasn't around; he deserved it after what he did, and after defeating that cheater Noah.

Yugi wasn't too far off, either. We watched as the giant rock he was standing on descended down and carefully fit back into the earth. I leaned to the side and saw that Noah was still around too, standing opposite from Yugi. His eyes were darkened with the pain of defeat, a similar look that Seto had had only moments ago back in that other place we had been sent to. But I could feel no mercy towards him.

Noah fell to his hands and knees. His head was hanging low.

"How could this have happened?" Noah said aloud.

Yugi began walking across the field over to where he was. I looked up at Seto. His eyes were straight forward, watching Yugi's every move, probably waiting to see what Yugi would do next.

"Listen to me, Noah. You've been all alone in this virtual world for six years and it's distorted your sense of reality…" I leaned in closer to where my brother was.

"Okay, here's our chance," I whispered to my brother, "If we strike now, we can catch him before he tries to runaway. How about you hold him down and I punch?" Seto smirked and gave a small chuckled, but that was all.

"That's a tempting idea, but I'd rather use my 'wait and see' tactic. Something tells me we're about to find out some valuable information now that he's been defeated." I crossed my arms in annoyance.

"Seriously? Nii-sama, it's the perfect plan! I can knock him out, and then we can both beat him up! Come on; let's strike now while Yugi's distracting him…!" I glanced at my brother to see if he was with me, but Seto shook his head.

"Cool it, Mokuba. Let's just wait for one second. Yugi has a way of divulging information from people. Let's see what comes of it." I gave another frustrated sigh. I would've given anything to just go and beat Noah to the ground now, but I decided to follow Seto's orders and chill out for the time being.

"…It's not fair! I deserve to be the president of Kaiba Corp. and I would be if Seto hadn't robbed me of my life!" Noah yelled, "And I want it back!" Noah got up from his knees and ran forward. I stepped forward, ready to defend Yugi, but Seto grabbed my vest and held me back. Noah placed his hands on Yugi's chest, "I'll escape to the real world using your body!"

"Yugi!" Noah pushed his hands forward and there was another white light that blinded us. My eyes widened. Noah was going to hurt Yugi! I had to help him. I tried running towards him again, but this time Seto wrapped his whole arm around me to keep me still.

"He's hurting him!" I yelled, staring at my brother like he was the cruelest man alive for letting this injustice occur right in front of him. I understood that Yugi was his nemesis, but that didn't mean he should just stand around and let the guy die!

"Stand your ground," Seto said in a very stern and serious voice. I stopped struggling and stood there, watching in horror.

The light only lasted for under a minute before it exploded and disappeared throwing Noah a couple feet backwards, Yugi standing upright and just fine. Noah was staring at Yugi with utter surprise and anger. What had just happened? I didn't understand. Had Yugi fought back?

"Who are you? Or rather, what are you?" Noah demanded, eyeing Yugi with suspicion. The rest of Yugi's friends ran towards him, asking him if he was okay. Joey did the usual routine, raising his fist in the air and threatening Noah with what would happen if he tried that again. I rolled my eyes, but looked up at my brother again.

"Now can we beat him up?" Seto said nothing. He wasn't even looking my way and was only focused on Noah. I shrugged and directed my attention back to what was going on.

"You have failed Noah, now you must set us all free," Yugi commanded.

"Yeah! And I want my real body back!" Tristan complained with a monkey-like tone.

"So you want your bodies back?" Noah began laughing again, that ever so creepy but just as annoying laugh that he seemed to have trademarked for moments like these, "Your real bodies are exactly where they have been since you got here."

"What does that mean?" Duke questioned.

"Don't you people get it? There are no 'real bodies' in this world. Everything here is virtual including you people too." It was clear that my brother and I had come to the same conclusion almost simultaneously. It made sense. We never really experienced any of the things that happened, it was all part of Seto's original virtual software designed to simulate and force you to experience everything as if it were real. "Your real bodies are strapped down and wired to my virtual simulator. Everything that happened here was all in your head."

"That's why it seemed so real here… our minds are being tricked into feeling things that aren't really there," Tea stated with astonishment. Seto stepped forward.

"That makes sense. When the floor opened up, we didn't really fall into a virtual vortex. We were knocked unconscious and hooked up to your cyber simulation pods." Then the weirdest thing started to happen. And when I say weirdest, I really mean the weirdest… the sky started turning PURPLE. Dark, swirling clouds began to form overhead and covered the sky. I couldn't believe my eyes. Tiny lightning bolts could be seen sparking from the purple clouds.

"You have failed me for the last time, Noah!" It seemed only Seto, Noah, and I were shaken by this echoing voice from the sky. Seto twisted around and looked up, gritting his teeth.

"That's impossible… it can't be!" I felt a familiar shiver shoot down my spine. Noah's eyes widened and sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Oh no… Father!" We all heard Noah call. The clouds shifted and suddenly an image of Gozaburo's face enlarged could be seen peeking down from the clouds. I felt I was the only person brave enough to say the man's name.

"Gozaburo," I said with grim fear.

"Father, wait! I can fix this! Just give me some time, I can defeat them!" Gozaburo scowled at Noah.

"More time? You've HAD more than enough time for that, Noah. And you still couldn't prove your worth. I think I should be the one to take over now." Again, I leaned towards Seto.

"Um Nii-sama… did I miss something? I thought Gozaburo was dead-"

"Dead?!" I jumped with surprised; I thought I had spoken quietly enough so that Gozaburo wouldn't have been able to hear me, apparently not. "My body is dead, but my mind is still alive. I digitized my own mind and memories after Seto disgraced me by taking over my company…" Wait, what? That wasn't how I had remembered it at all, in fact, I was sure things had gone differently.

"Nii-sama, I thought-" Seto raised his hand and signaled me to be silent, his eyes remaining on target.

"So, you have been the one behind this the whole time?" Seto asked. Noah stepped forward, smiling up at his father.

"Yes he has, right Father? And he's going to give Kaiba Corp. to me!" Gozaburo didn't look convinced as he stared at Noah.

"I wouldn't count on it, kid. You had your chance and you failed miserably!" Gozaburo yelled; Noah's smile was wiped completely off his face. My arms fell to my sides and I looked in his direction. My mouth gaped a bit; seeing his face like that made me see Noah in a more human and less demonic light.

"Noah…" I said quietly to myself, Seto continued doing what he did best, trying to establish that he was the elite and true winner of the group.

"Don't forget that you lost your chance also. And you failed even more miserably than Noah did when you lost Kaiba Corp. to someone more fit for the job!" Now Gozaburo was staring Seto down, smirking to himself like his efforts proved already to be useless.

"Ah Seto, you fool. You haven't changed one bit, have you? You're still just as proud as you were before. Don't you realize I was the one who taught you everything you know today? No matter, it's about time you learned the truth about why I adopted you in the first place," Gozaburo said, "When you beat me in chess; I decided maybe adopting you wouldn't be half bad. I got the idea that I could use you and your skills to motivate my real son that was quite a slacker. But then Noah was involved in the accident that would later take his life. I attempted to preserve his mind in cyberspace, but soon realized that Noah would always be the same spoiled brat that he was before, unworthy of inheriting my company.

"That was when I turned all my attention to you, Seto. I thought you would make a better heir to my fortune, so I pushed you to your limits."

"You gave up on your own son and you trapped me all by myself in cyberspace!" Noah yelled. My eyes wandered his way again; I could feel another frown tugging at my face. As much as I hated to admit it, I was actually… feeling bad for Noah, at least because of the way Gozaburo had treated him.

"Not at first. Initially I thought I could still use Seto, for even if Noah was able to learn how to run a major corporation, he still lacked one thing—a body. That's where Seto came in." I could hear a loud gasp coming from all of Yugi's friends. And I would've gasped too, if I didn't already know that Gozaburo was evil enough to do such a thing in the first place. Seto wasn't surprised that much either, he seemed more disgusted by it.

"So you were just going to use my body to transfer Noah's mind? You sick bastard!" Seto yelled back at Gozaburo.

"No need to yell, Seto. That wasn't the plan for too long. It was then that I discovered there would be no need to transfer Noah's mind, since your mind was perfectly fine the way it was. So I focused all my concentration on training you to be able to inherit my company; that is until you stole it from me! After that, I did what I could using the same technology I used to download Noah's mind on my own before I died, retreating to cyberspace to plot my revenge. I decided I would use this place for my final plan—to take over Seto's body for myself!"

"Father… you only used me to trap them here, didn't you?" Noah said with regret.

"That's the only thing you were able to do right!" Gozaburo barked back.

"You're nothing but a monster," Seto said.

"Oh, am I the monster, Seto? I was the most powerful human being in the world until you came along and stole everything from me! Don't you realize I treated you better than my own son?" As the bickering continued, it seemed everyone else witnessing this didn't exist in their minds. This entire thing was between only three people; the evil father that treated his children like pawns, the son that sided with a man that was never on his side to begin with, and the second son that was trying his best to keep what he had gained. But that was what it all came down to, wasn't it? Kaiba Corporation.

Just as each person had their own dark past, each one had something gain from possession of the company. The old man wanted it for power, the son wanted it to prove himself, and the second son wanted it because he had earned it. Where was I in this equation? I was nowhere to be seen, I was the mere younger brother with the 2% and the sole desire to bring Gozaburo down for all it was worth.

"Thanks for nothing. I don't care what it takes, I'll make sure you never regain your power if it's the last thing I do," Seto spat with disrespect.

"That might not be possible, Seto. I have something planned that even you will be unable to control even with all your intelligence." An image showed up beside Gozaburo's face in the sky, it revealed a satellite of some sort. "This is one of the original Kaiba Corp. satellites, and part of my newest plan. These satellites can beam signals to every computer system on earth and connect them back to the underwater base that holds my supercomputer. No one on earth will be able to escape! I'll have access to every home on the planet!"

"That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard!" Noah stated.

"Oh is it, my son? Well it's funny that you say that considering I got the idea from you. So I'm no longer interested in taking over Seto's body to regain control of Kaiba Corporation, I want something more this time. And once this plan works, I'll be the most powerful being on the planet! Everyone will on earth will become virtual and I will reign as their supreme leader!" Gozaburo's image began to flicker in the sky and soon disappeared. I stood there, motionless. No one said anything. I decided that I should be the one to first speak up about what had just been said.

"Well, this sucks."

* * *

**A/N:** _My cat is eating paper right now. My cat is seriously the weirdest thing alive. But anyways, on a related note! I know, I said that this would be the return of the Seto POV but it's not. The chapter never quite made it to where I was going to do the switch, but that's alright. I figure I'm going to stop apologizing for it because sometimes there are some scenes that need to go a certain way and that's that. Just like how I have been trying to write Severance for the past week or so when I really wanted to write Consequences. Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut and do what's right to you. It's what writing is all about. I hope you liked the chapter! I know the chapter ended on a weird note, but I felt like adding something cool like that at the end. Thanks for reading! Get ready to RUMBLE!_


	26. Chapter 26: The Real World Reloaded

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I thought everyone would like that little 'lets beat him up' bit from Mokuba. Because honestly, it's what they all had to be thinking after all that had happened! I actually don't add that kind of stuff in there just because I want my story to be more original, but it's more, how I wanted things to go, or how I envisioned things would play out when the camera wasn't focused on Seto and Mokuba. Writing this story is actually a bigger joy than I'm sure I let on. The Noah arc was the most interesting season, I found, and I always had great ideas for what had been happening off camera and, well, after five years, they're finally coming out. It's awesome, really, just to get it all out on paper and then to hear that everyone thinks it's clever:) Yeah, bastard seemed to fit. I don't like using bad words a ton just because I think it takes away my ability to convey a negative without it, so, I only use it when it's appropriate;] Anyways, I better go now, but hey, thanks for the review!

The Future Queen of the World: Hahahaha, thanks for the review! I hope to hear more from you soon!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the reviews! They were quite dandy:]

Rena Redhead: I think I really did miss that kid, I'm pretty sure he's narrated the story more than Seto has. Although I'm trying my best to keep it even and not play favorites(although we know THAT isn't possible) But still, at the same time, there are just some scenes I imagine in my head and their usually from one person's POV and that's it. Like, I can't imagine writing it any other way. So really the scenes, as unorganized a writer I am, are really planned out that way, and they focus more or less on whichever character to get the greatest effect. Wow, this is starting to sound like I actually think when I write stories, hahaha! You have no idea how annoying it was, though, to write all of Gozaburo's story. My God, in the anime it went on for practically eight minutes straight! I thought I was going to die… and I didn't know if I could fit it all in one chapter. Which would've been depressing beyond belief but yeah… I better run, but thanks again for your wonderful review! Enjoy!

Aso: CoA? How clever! I never thought of abbreviating it like that! I usually just call it Consequences cause it sounds EPIC! Actually, that reminds me of something else that is coming up soon, but I best not say and risk ruining the fun. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked what you've read so far!

Chapter 26: The Real World Reloaded

**-M-**

"I spy with my little eye something… red."

"Joey, I think you should stop… people are getting annoyed."

"Something red, huh? I'm thinking it's your mangled body in about five seconds if you don't SHUT THE HELL UP."

"…Actually, it was Duke's vest." I shook my head. That was just another perk you got from being lost in a cave with Joey Wheeler. We were all supposed to be working as a unit now, walking together as a team, but as usual, Seto and I kept our distance from behind the group. I didn't mind it so much; in fact, it gave us some time to talk.

"Hey Nii-sama, do you think this is really the way out?" Seto didn't look my way. In fact, he had ignored me completely. I grabbed a hold of his sleeve and tugged at it. He pulled his arm away. "Nii-sama, come on, why won't you talk to me?" Seto raised his finger to shut me up. I hated when he did that. "Nii-sama…"

"Mokuba, look, for the time being, let's just be silent, okay? I'm thinking about something…" Seto seemed focused. I didn't know what this was about but I gave up and kept my mouth shut.

"My father may be gone now, but he'll be back. But in the mean time, you guys need to get out of here," Noah stated, leading us deeper into the dark cave that we had wandered into not too long ago.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to decide whether you're leading us into a trap or not," Duke said with suspicion.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Tea stated solemnly.

"Look! An exit!" Noah exclaimed, running ahead to a massive computer at the end of the cave. The group approached the device as Noah ran over to the controls. He stopped and sighed. "Never mind, this is one of the several remote networks controlled by my father. It can give us access to all of the programmed emergency exits, but it seems my father has locked the system and closed off every possible exit to keep us from escaping.

"When my father showed up after six years, he promised to help me. But he was lying. My father was using me…" Noah leaned forward onto the control panel, keeping his back turned to us. My guilt was beginning to grow bigger as I began to make parallels between my brother and him. Gozaburo treated Noah the same way he treated Seto, with no respect and no concern for his well being. Gozaburo had abandoned Noah easily and without regret, like he would have with Seto if the situation had been the same.

Noah was quiet for a while. I continued to feel bad for him.

"Noah? Are you okay?" I asked. The rest of the gang was becoming anxious.

"Noah, are you sure there are no other exits around here?"

"Yeah, maybe there's one you're not thinking of," Tea suggested.

"I want out of here!" Tristan whined. Seto started moving closer to the crowd. I followed.

"Yeah, and we need to get out of here soon before that old man takes over the world!"

"And we can't do it from in here…" Noah chuckled.

"What an intelligent conclusion." Noah's back was still turned towards us.

"Look kid, every virtual world has more than one emergency exit system. So I suggest you try thinking harder."

"What's wrong, Seto? Don't you wanna stay awhile? We won't be alone in this virtual world for much longer…" Noah began laughing menacingly, in a very different but creepier way, as he twisted around, "My father said he's bringing the whole world in here! And that means I'll never have to be alone again…" Noah started laughing again, this time even more loudly than the last, letting his head hang back as he bellowed his laughter. I couldn't stand to see him this way for much longer, I began running towards him.

"Noah, stop!" I grabbed both of his shoulder and shook him, "You have to get a hold of yourself, and you're in danger too! And if we want to get out of this place, we're going to have to work together." Noah finally calmed down and the laughing ceased. He smiled at me.

"Mokuba, you're right." For a split second, Noah's smile looked almost identical to Seto's back when he had been a kid! I immediately let go of Noah's shoulder and took a step back.

"What the-?" I shook my head and checked my vision. Why had I seen Seto's face just now?

"No need to be alarmed, Mokuba, it's only me." By the way Noah was smirking and I could tell he knew what had just happened. I instantly became embarrassed; I was hoping no one else had noticed.

"I can see that, Noah," I quickly turned away and started walking back towards my brother. I couldn't help thinking about Noah, though, and his situation. I mean, despite the fact that he had been trying to destroy us for the past twenty-five chapters, not to mention that weird moment we just had, it wasn't his fault. Gozaburo was the one that made him that way, just as Gozaburo had turned Seto into something he wasn't before.

I got the feeling that with a little help… maybe we could change him back to how he was before Gozaburo put him here and filled him with hate.

"Wait a minute!"

**-S-**

"It just occurred to me that there might be one more exit route left that hasn't been shut down," Noah stated.

"Where is it?" Joey demanded.

"Tell me, right now," I barked. I was tired of his games. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible and felt he knew the way all along.

"It's the one doorway I created that leads directly to the real world. I'm almost positive my father has no idea it even exists. You can escape through there!"

"Then let's get a move on, the world is depending on us."

"Very well, just follow me. I'll lead the way." Noah walked through the crowd of people and started us leading us backwards and out of the cave we had just spent the past ten minutes walking through. I didn't enjoy wasting those ten minutes walking in here only to discover the place was useless. But we had no other options, I supposed.

I hung back and let the crowd move ahead. Even Mokuba had blended in with the gang and was walking with them, but I didn't mind. I'm sure he must've grown tire of trying to get me to converse with him, and it wasn't that I didn't want to talk with him… it was just that I needed a plan. Noah had already duped me once before and caught me off guard.

Only what could I do in this situation? I wasn't left much opportunity for a plan and right now, the only smart thing to do would be to follow through with wherever he was leading us. Even if it wasn't the right way, at least we wouldn't be left searching the virtual world looking for the wrong way. This was the only lead we had and I understood that.

I noticed Yugi starting to hang back from his friends and I could barely hold back my annoyance. Mokuba finally left me be, and now Yugi wanted to talk. I thought to myself, 'Oh well'. Maybe conversing with Yugi wasn't such a bad idea. I would have to admit, out of the whole group, Yugi was about the one person that came close to being intelligent.

"It shouldn't be too far off from here, just a little ways away now," Noah called from the front.

"Kaiba, something's not right. I think Noah's lying to us, he's not to be trusted." Wow, for someone I had just considered intelligent a second ago, he was pretty slow to the game.

"Why don't you try telling me something I don't already know?"

"If you're so sure this is a trick, then why are you following him?" Ah Yugi, he may have been the master of duel monsters, but when it came to basic man to man strategy he had nothing to show for it.

"I was always told to keep my enemies close by." Yugi stopped and I walked ahead of him. I was happy to get away; I couldn't deal with the guy for more than a couple minutes without him boring me to death.

Besides, I needed to use this time to plot my next move. I was sure Yugi was going to spend this time instead trying to convince himself that Noah was actually good and that he was trying to help us. God, just thinking about him got me annoyed. That Yugi kid always tried to find the good in people, but what he doesn't understand is that most people aren't good, and almost all of them can't be trusted. It was the way I always lived my life before hand and it never led me astray.

And it never left me on my ass feeling like an idiot for believing in the good of someone clearly evil. For me, I knew that was Noah.

As time went on, we made our way through a random desert, which was surprisingly short in length. And the next thing I knew, we were walking through some sort of dry canal and at the end was a castle-like door awaiting us. I was less than impressed, although curious to say the least. Noah stopped when he reached the door.

"There it is, your ticket to freedom lies beyond this door," Noah turned back around to look at us, "Once you walk through you'll wake up in the real world." His smile seemed genuine, but I was the best at seeing people for what they really meant. After all, I was a business man.

Without questioning or a response, Noah leaned in and shoved the door open. A bright light was awaiting us on the other side; it was expected, but not pleasant. It shot out at us and consumed us, much like the other virtual doors had from before when we had been walking through the forest. I closed my eyes and waited for something to happen.

Nothing did. I found it a little odd and also worrisome. I heard a click and opened my eyes.

"What the-?" I looked down. My hand was on my briefcase like I had just clicked it closed. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I was standing near a plotted tree growing out from an extension of the sidewalk in the heart of… Domino City? That seemed a bit strange, why was I here? Did that mean Noah had upheld his end of the bargain? This came as a surprise… I actually was in the real world.

But something seemed a bit too strange about this. I had this feeling that I had stood in this exact spot only a few days ago…

"Hey Nii-sama, relax. With all of these Rare Hunters running around the city, I bet those god cards are right under our noses!" My head twisted around. As odd as it might sound, I actually wasn't expecting to see who I saw sitting on the bench perpendicular from me.

Mokuba bounced up from the bench and looked up at me, grinning like he had all the answers. "Someone's bound to summon one of them at some point and the minute they do, our satellite systems will alert us right away! We'll be the first ones to see it happen." Why was Mokuba talking about the god cards like I hadn't seen them before? I already knew who had which god cards; Yugi had Slifer, I had Obelisk, and Marik had Ra. So what was with all this talk like it hadn't happened…? I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something wasn't right about this particular scene.

"Mokuba, have you been experiencing anything… unusual, lately?" Mokuba titled his head to the side, looking at me like I was crazy.

"No, why do you ask?" I scratched my head.

"I'm not really sure… I guess maybe I'm experiencing some déjà vu, that's all." It couldn't be anything to worry about. After all, my brother was by my side, and I was back in my city. What other setting would I suspect?

"Well, we better hurry up if we want to be the first ones to see the god cards being played," Mokuba said, running over to where I was standing to carry my briefcase. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to be back in the real world, but I still couldn't shake this feeling that all of this had happened before. I shook my head and decided to ignore it.

As Mokuba was running towards me, his foot tripped on some uneven sidewalk sticking out. Mokuba fell forward my way; I reacted quickly and held out my arms forward to catch him.

"Don't worry, I've got you-" But instead of falling into my open arms, Mokuba seemed to sink right through my arms that were perfectly in tact and fall to the ground.

"Oh! Nii-sama, I thought you said you got me!" My arms were still being held out, my hands were shaking. What… what had just happened? I leaned down to help my brother to his feet, but my hand couldn't grasp his arm. It just floated through his body like he was a projected hologram. My eyes widened.

"Nii-sama, are you okay?" Mokuba asked when he finally got to his feet. I stood there, eyeing him, confused. I reached out my hands towards his face and my hand stuck out clear through the other side. He wasn't there.

"You're not Mokuba…" I said quietly to myself, the Mokuba hologram stared at me like I was crazy.

"Nii-sama, speak to me!"

"What kind of trick is this?!" I yelled. I reached out again towards the fake Mokuba, moving my hand back and forth through his upper body. The image flickered a bit every time I did and I realized that, for sure, this wasn't real. And we weren't in the real world.

Suddenly the scene made a sudden shift, and I was no longer where I was a second ago. I was still in Domino City, but this time I was at the outskirts. On lower ground, I could see Yugi kneeling at his feet. The wind gusted by, and the clouds were dark and murky.

I knew what this was. This was the duel between Yugi and one of the rare hunters; this was the duel where he got his god card! That was when I realized I wasn't really out in the real world; I was just living through another one of my memories.

Yugi was on his knees as if he was in pain, but he seemed a bit confused too.

"What's going on?!" I yelled in frustrating knowing there could only be explanation for this. I turned away and began walking in the opposite direction. I had come to the conclusion that Noah had duped us, as I had suspected.

Whatever, I didn't care.

I stopped and looked around. Mokuba was nowhere in sight. Alright, that was something I would have to deal with later. I knew exactly who to go to if I wanted to get to the bottom of this. And I knew exactly where to go to find him. I decided that my next destination would be a familiar one; Kaiba Corporation.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys! So I've got a lot to say and not enough room to say it in. Actually, okay, that was a lie. I'm not actually sure how much I want to say. Does anyone get that? Where they write a chapter and then when they get to the end they have no idea what they want to say in the author's note? Oh, well, it's usually an easy task for me… BUT ANYWAYS… Um, so, this chapter was cool and all… but I found myself bored by it. I think it's because a lot of what happened was in the show and that bored me, although I did change it up with that extra scene but yeah… things will get more exciting with the next chapter, I assure you!:D Thanks for reading!_


	27. Chapter 27: Old Habits Die Hard

MythCreatorWriter: It's funny that you say that I keep the character's I don't like in character because I seriously thought some people be like "OMG, WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO JOEY?!" Even though that would be the totally in character thing for him to say, I can't help but take every jab I can at him BECAUSE of the fact that I don't like him:p And it's true about the author's likes and dislikes, but it's always nice to know that readers will like the story even if you think it's total crap. Although I might say that I definitely love this chapter cause it's super excited!(even though a lot of what happens here is in the show, but there are some added extras that some may catch if they've watched the episode a bazillion times/in Japanese) Anyways, I best be off on another adventure!(I actually want to start writing the next chapter already, I'm really excited for the next scene) Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review!

Celestial Blood: I'm glad that you like it! It's okay if you didn't review the other chapters; I still think you're rad anyway! Thanks for the review!

Chapter 27: Old Habits Die Hard

**-M-**

I opened my eyes when I finally felt comfortable only to see that I was standing in the middle of a plaza all by myself. I looked all around. There wasn't another soul in sight. But only moment ago I had been with them… where could they have gone?

"Hello?" I called. I waited for somebody to respond, but no one did. "Where is everybody?" I said, thinking out loud as well as calling out to see if anyone would hear me. There was still no answer from anyone nearby.

"Their gone…" I had concluded, but where? I noticed Seto wasn't anywhere either, which usually wasn't a good sign, at least not for me. "Nii-sama?" I yelled, but there was still no answer. I was beginning to feel anxious. What if they had left without me? What if Seto had forgotten me?

No, that wasn't possible. Seto would never simply 'forget' me. I was his younger brother and if there was anything Seto had proven to me in the last couple hours; it was that he cared about me… a lot. Still, it didn't comfort this feeling of being utterly alone.

"Mokuba?" I jumped and twisted around when I heard another person's voice. To my surprise, it was Noah. Noah ran towards me. "What are you still doing here? The others have already made it to the real world!" That didn't make me feel any better, but thankfully Noah already seemed to have a plan of action.

"Here, follow me. I'll lead you to the nearest exit so we can get you out of here." I smiled.

"Wow, thanks Noah." I began following him down the sidewalk and through the deserted virtual city. It was a swell thing, what he was doing for me. I felt I was really beginning to see Noah in a different light; he had truly become a different person. I guess anyone could change that easily if their father had betrayed them like Gozaburo had to Noah.

As we walked together, I started thinking about friendships and bonds, how they can be formed and strengthened in the not so typical way. For example, my brother and I. Our bond seemed to have a history of nearly shattering after every traumatic event, but in the end, triumphs and leads it to become even stronger. Then there was Joey and Yugi, whose bond was always strong no matter the odds but was also similar in that it got stronger after traumatic events as well.

Although Noah and I had only just started interacting with one another, I felt like after discovering his father's true intentions, he would begin to see a friendship being born between us. I mean, why else would he be helping me escape? I began to try and think of ways I should repay him for what he was doing.

"Here we are," I broke out of my thoughts and looked up.

"An arcade? Is this where the exit is?"

"Yep," Noah led me into the arcade. I ran over to a couple of the games and sat down. I might not have created the virtual world software but I always had a general idea of how these things worked.

"I bet the exit is in one of these video games, isn't it? I just have to beat it to open the door, right?" I said, beginning to play a game of Pacman as I was talking. I beat the entire game easily and within a minute but nothing happened. I frowned. This must've not been the game with the exit.

"Not this game… maybe this one," I said to myself, shifting over to the game right next to it. The game was Galaga. I started beating the levels just as quickly as I had with the last game. "Man, I can't wait to get back home," I said to myself. The idea made me kill about fifty more aliens even faster.

Within only two minutes, I had been able to beat that game too. But still, as I neared completion of the final level, nothing happened. I placed my hands down on the controls.

"Hey Noah, are you sure the exit is hidden in one of these games? I can't seem to find it… do you know which one it is?"

"I'm not sure, but I think you're getting warmer," Noah said. I shrugged, completing the final level with ease. I started thinking about going to the real world again and realized Noah wouldn't be able to come with us.

"Oh yeah… you don't have a body, do you? Which means you can't return to us with the real world…" An idea came to mind just then, "But I bet Nii-sama could make you a new body! I mean, sure, it probably won't be like your old body, but at least you'll be in the real world." I completed the game and turned towards Noah. He seemed rather astonished by the idea. I smiled once more and ran over to him.

"The technology experts at Kaiba Corp. are top notch, I bet you anything they could construct some sort of a robot body for you," I said with confidence, "After all Noah, we are brothers, aren't we?" And I did mean it. So what if Noah wasn't our brother by blood? The Kaiba Brothers weren't some elite group of superheroes that no one else could join. I guess we were kind of like the mutants from X-Men in a way. All three of us had endured something that gave us both great pain and power—it was also an experience none of us had signed up for.

Noah was still staring at me with disbelief. I didn't look too much into it, I was sure he was just in shocked with gratitude. Although I would've liked to wait around to see what thanks he would give me, I was still anxious to get out of the virtual world.

"So Noah, this place has a lot of games in here, but if we play each one of them it'll take forever to find the exit. Are you completely sure you don't have a clue which one has the exit in it? Maybe the exit is somewhere else."

"You're right! I know, how about we try that one over there?" Noah pointed passed me at a game that was in the very back of the arcade. It was a DDR machine. That was it! I had a feeling that would be the one that could take me out of here. I ran over to the stage with Noah following close from behind me. I walked up the steps and looked around.

"This looks kinda cool, but where's the exit?" I walked over to one of the platforms.

"Right here!" I heard Noah yell just as he jumped at me from behind. I felt this surge of pain cut into my back and shoot up through my spine. I felt myself lose all control of my body as I began to fall through another portal of swirling colors. All of this seemed familiar in a bad way.

Before I knew it, everything went white… again.

**-S-**

It wasn't long before I had reached the heart of Domino City and had begun making my way through the empty streets. It was strange to see the city like this, never in my life had it looked so deserted and dead. But I wasn't one to focus much on scenery and I had other things on my mind. I should have figured Noah never planned to set us free, anyone could've been able to see that. It was just another trap.

But instead of focusing on that, I decided to forget Noah for now. It was time for me to go straight to the source and take down the man behind all of this madness; my step father, Gozaburo. I hoped he didn't actually think his plan was going to work out in the end. Dragging the whole world into this virtual dump? Gozaburo must've been more senile than I thought.

I stopped and looked up. I was standing in front of the Kaiba Corporation building. I titled my head to look all the way at the top. I had a feeling I would be able to find Gozaburo here. The old man was probably sitting in my office right now, waiting for me. That fool, I was going to show him. I had taken him down once before and I planned to do it again. Only this time, it would be for good.

I looked back down and walked forward into the building. Walking through the automatic glass doors, there was no one at the front desk to greet me. It seemed even the virtual Kaiba Corp. was just as deserted as the rest of this virtual city. This was something I would've never seen in real life, for there was always someone on the job at Kaiba Corp.

I walked past the front and right over to the main elevator. I clicked the button to go to the top floor and the doors closed. I let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall, crossing my arms. I closed my eyes for a moment, just letting them rest and gathering my thoughts. I had to put an end to my step father's nonsense once and for all. My eyes shot open when I heard the elevator dinging; I had come to the top floor.

I exited the elevator and walked down the long hallway. I knew exactly where to go, I knew this entire building by heart. I could feel an immense amount of energy building up inside me, urging me to move forward and face the man that haunted my nightmares every night. I stopped when I reached the door, twisted the knob, and kicked open the door.

"Ah, Seto… I was expecting you. However, I wasn't expecting such a poor display of manners." I walked through the door and stood in front of his desk. Gozaburo was sitting on the other side of it, sitting in MY business chair.

"Cut the charades Gozaburo, I'm not here to chat with you."

"Well that's too bad, because I was thinking we could have a father-son chat. Why don't you take a seat? Stay a while?" I glared at him.

"In your dreams." Gozaburo eyed me.

"Seto, why don't you just give in now and make things easier for yourself. Or you can choose to meet the same fate as your friends." There was a chess board with chess pieces already set up on his desk. He took up his queen and moved it two spaces forward. A screen folded down from the ceiling behind me, and I could hear Yugi and the others battling off dueling monsters. They weren't doing so well, even Yugi.

"Take a look. My army of monsters could wipe them out at my command if I so choose." An image of Yugi could be seen after he lost his Curse of Dragon to one of Gozaburo's monsters. I looked back at Gozaburo.

"Your little threats don't scare me and if you know what's best for you, I would suggest letting us go before I really get angry." Gozaburo rose from his seat. He looked me in the eye, and I made an effort not to look his head, just to keep looking straight out the window. Gozaburo started chuckling. It was probably because this had been a habit he had beaten into me when I was a child, never to look directly into Gozaburo's eyes unless being spoken too. Even though it had been a long time since he had died, the habit had still left its mark on my mind.

Gozaburo began walking towards me and stood right beside me in the opposite direction, he turned his head towards me, smirking.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" I could feel his body heat; he was standing so close to me. My body remained still, my eyes fixed on looking straight forward and nowhere else. His mere presence beside me still sent a chill down my back, as it always had when I was a kid. Gozaburo would only get this close to me when he was going to punish me back in the day. I had come to correlate a person's closeness with punishment. Gozaburo turned his head towards me, "You're exactly the same kid you use to be."

I didn't say anything.

"Alright, I know the perfect way to settle our differences. Do you recall the chess match we had the day I met you? Well I propose a rematch." I smirked with amusement.

"You are not worth my time," I could tell Gozaburo was peeved with my response, "Why would I want to play chess with someone who couldn't even beat me when I was just a kid?" Now Gozaburo was the one who looked smug.

"What makes you think I want to play another game of chess with you?" I turned my head with shock.

"Then what exactly did you have in mind?" I asked. The first thing that came to my mind was hand to hand combat which I was possibly more excited about then I should be. I could only imagine what it would look like; a 72-year-old man against his 16-year-old son. That would've been a sight to see.

"I'm talking about a game you're quite fond of; duel monsters." I stared at him with disbelief. Was he being serious right now? Was he actually suggesting we play the game he had always discouraged me to play when I was a child?

"Really?" I asked out loud. Gozaburo continued having that evil, cunning look in his eye. "What are you up to?"

"You seem mad; I thought you'd jump at the chance to duel your step father to win your freedom." I glared at him. I couldn't believe my step father was the same sick and twisted man he had always been. He disgusted me.

"You're wrong, Gozaburo. You can't play with my life like it's a game."

"Oh really? That's quite a surprise to hear, coming from you, considering that's exactly what you did to me, Seto, on the day you stole the Kaiba Corporation from me."

"How tragic. You're here because I outsmarted you and took away your precious little company."

"I'm here because you stole my company and took my life." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him.

"You killed yourself, how can you blame me?"

"Don't talk like it wasn't your fault. You're the one that drove me to the edge, in reality; you're the one that killed me. That's why I plan to get rid of you first before I digitize the entire world." There he was going on about that digitizing the world stuff. I rolled my eyes. As if.

"And why exactly do you have to beat me in a duel to do that?" I asked, uninterested in even hearing the answer.

"To humiliate you, like you humiliated me. And once I beat you at your favorite game, I'll make sure you never stand in my way again! I'll erase your mind and reprogram you as my servant. Then you'll obey my every command just like the rest of the world. How does that sound to you, son?" I turned away from Gozaburo and looked down, closing my eyes.

"I have never served anyone but myself and I've never backed down from a challenge either, Gozaburo, you should know that," I opened my eyes, "So let's duel."

* * *

**A/N:** _Yes! Awesomeness! I can't wait! I'm excited!(Awesomeness is a word?!) Anyways, so, I'm excited. Not because there's yet another duel coming up(although it is the last duel of this story) but because it's a duel against Gozaburo! And who couldn't be more excited about that? Also, you guys are probably wondering what the hell Mokuba is going to be doing this whole time. Well, like I keep telling you guys, don't worry about it, I've ALWAYS got something interested and original waiting for you! Plus, I'm actually REALLY excited to write Gozaburo and Seto's interaction in their duel. It's going to be super cool because I'm going to have them talk about a lot of awesome stuff as an added bonus:3. I know some people, or at least one person, had asked whether I was going to have a section where it was from Noah's POV and I was thinking if I was going to do that, these next upcoming scenes would be the time to do that. But honestly, I hate the kid so damn much and I think I'm going to have too much more awesome stuff going on with the REAL Kaiba Brothers that I don't think I'll do Noah's POV(I'm sure not many of you are that unhappy about that) But anyways, expect cool stuff! Thanks for reading!_


	28. Chapter 28: No Other Option

MythCreatorWriter: OH THANK GOD, there are only two reviews for this chapter. Awesome… that means I can sleep sooner(lol, I feel like I literally JUST talk to you! It's so weird writing this reply now because usually I'm replying to a comment you made a couple weeks ago but now it feels all new! But that could be the lack of sleep kicking in right now, hahaha) And I just killed a bug too(NOT THAT I STALK YOUR TWITTER OR ANYTHING, lol) I'm such a goof:p But anyway, back to the review of the matter! Awwww, you remembered that duels kill my soul!(and using my lingo is also sort of an amazing thing to see) But yes, it is a duel, but Gozaburo is a much more interesting character than Generic McGenericson Big Five member. You'll see what I mean by the end of this chapter, don't worry. I didn't take too much extra time. Remember, this is my interpretation of the series or rather, how it should've gone. And I've had all these ideas and interpretations in mind for years now! But maybe back then I spent some time. And if you loved what I did with Seto's head in the last chapter, you'll thoroughly enjoy what I did at the end of this chapter!(it's not long, but I'm sure you'd find it delightful) Thanks again for the review! I'll probably be replying to your PM… tomorrow morning;.; See ya!

WhiteAsukalover: HELL YEAH! Someone's going to throw down a face down!(I may have to kill myself now…) Hahaha, thanks for the review!

Chapter 28: No Other Option

**-M-**

"Hello?" My head popped up and looked around. Nothingness. Again with the nothingness! I was surrounded by white, there was nothing around, it was empty, and it was bright… I was getting annoyed just describing the damn place! And where was I? I couldn't deny it… I was in No Man's Land… AGAIN! How did I know? Well… it was kind of hard NOT to know. The place looked like a blank Word document.

"DAMMIT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, thrashing about with anger. I wasn't one to use such language nor would my brother ever approve of it, but I was alone in this god forsaken place and it was all because of Noah. He had lied to me and tricked me. He had taken my body and was probably halfway across the world with it by now. And I was stuck here… alone.

I was so fumed I didn't even know what to do with myself. I started flailing my arms and legs in the air, kicking around what would've been dirt had there been any to begin with, and yelling other kinds of obscenities my brother would've grounded me for the rest of my life for saying.

"MOTHER-!" No, I decided not to say that one. I was growing tired by this point and had already drained myself of a lot of energy by consisting kicking and jumping all over the place for the past ten minutes. Finally I stopped and let my arms drop to my sides. I had mentally proclaimed that I was done and began to catch my breath. I couldn't believe it… that jerk… that complete and total-

No. I wasn't going to say that one either. I felt like I was done… for now. I had cooled off a bit at this point. My head turned and looked all around. There was nothing here. And there was no one nearby. I really was all by myself in this place. My anger was soon replaced with sorrow. The last time I had been here, at least I had been with Seto. Somehow just having another human being nearby had made things… better, just having someone to talk to was comforting.

But I was here now, and I would be forced to live out the rest of my days all by myself. I felt the anger well up again as I thought back to the conversation Seto and I had had last time we were in this place. How we had our fight, which had led up to us talking to each other, really talking… and things between us were okay again, they were finally okay and then THIS happened! Things were looking up until I got stuck here! Why couldn't Noah had been telling the truth, why couldn't he have just let us out of the virtual world like he said he would?

I just wanted to lie down and cry, but I knew it wouldn't help. Nothing would, I was stuck. Possibly for the rest of my life… possibly for the rest of eternity! I started to spiral in a whirlwind of depressing thoughts. I thought about how Noah looked, that he had kept his same body for the past six years without growing up because he had been trapped in this place. I assumed that the same would happen to me, too.

But I didn't want to be eleven for the rest of my life! I wanted to be able to grow up, hit puberty, get a girlfriend, go to a dance, have a first kiss, get a job, go to a party… I wanted my Nii-sama. I didn't want to live out the rest of my days without him. I didn't want to be all alone…

"Hey there." I jumped at the sound of another person's presence. At first, I was scared to death because I got this sudden idea that it was Seto who had been listening to me the whole time and now he was here to punish me for the curse words I had said earlier. I twisted around quickly and was surprised to see who it was. In fact, I was speechless, I was in awe. It just… took me by total surprise. "Miss me?"

"Saint Joan?" Joan smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"I've actually been promoted. Its Guardian Angel Joan now, but my friends call me GAJ for short. It's got a nice ring to it, don't you agree? And check out the outfit it came with!" Joan did a little twirl in front of me to show off her new appearance. I looked down. She was no longer wearing armor anymore, but instead she was dressed in an elegant, white dress, laced with a bright gold. She had a cape attached to the front of her dress that split up in the back to make two scarves that were loosely wrapped around both her arms. "I think it makes me look somewhat feminine, don't you agree?"

Outfit changes were the last thing on my mind. I was more confused about other things like what was she doing here? The last time I had seen her was in one of those many virtual forests Seto and I had traveled through, after we had been attacked by that one beast we encountered. Then she had just up and left us there, without rhyme or reason. Where did she go? Why had she left us in the first place? I started getting mad again.

"Where have you been?!" I yelled.

"Woah, that's no way to greet an old friend. Didn't your brother teach you better?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child! Tell me what's going on! And why are you even here? Why did you leave me before??"

"Jeez kid, I'm sorry. If you recall, your brother was the one who wanted me gone." That wasn't a good excuse. My brother wanted everyone gone. Seto didn't like a lot of other people. But that was beside the point, this was serious.

"Don't give me that! You abandoned us!"

"Hey, it's not like you were alone. You had your brother that time. He's capable of protecting you, isn't he?" I rolled my eyes. Joan obviously wasn't listening to what I had to say. And at that point, I was so frustrated I didn't really care. I came to realize that getting angry wasn't going to get me out of here. So I did what I felt was reasonable; turned around and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Away from you, what do you think? We could've really used your help back when we were lost in that forest, but I guess that just provides proof that you have no intention of helping me… ever. You're probably just another virtual simulation from my memories, anyway, sent here by Noah to mess with my head. Well no thank you. I'm getting out of this place even if it kills me." In a flash, Joan swished in front of me and landed on the ground. I stopped for a split second.

"Hold on for a sec, will ya? I'm here to help you. After all, they didn't promote me to Guardian Angel for nothing." Her facial expression seemed genuine, but I wasn't buying it, not one bit.

"Oh really? Well how am I supposed to know you're not working for Noah? I bet you're just trying to trick me so that I'm stuck here forever. I'm not falling for it, not this time." I ended it on that note and started moving forward. But Joan continued to stand in my way. I attempted to peacefully walk around her, she refused. No matter where I tried to walk, she moved right in front of me. This carried on for another few seconds before I got fed up with it.

"Can you back off? I'm trying to find my way out of here!" Joan laughed at me. Apparently this was a funny to her. I got angrier. She laughed harder.

"Ya know, you look really dumb when you're mad," Joan said with a chuckle, patting me on the shoulder like I was a small child. I became fed up. I grabbed her hand and threw it off my shoulder. Now she was the one that looked pissed.

"Hey, back off!" My face was welcomed with a slap. "Jeez, I'm in a dress! You would think you'd treat a lady with better manners…" I rolled my eyes. Joan was so full of herself. It was like giving her a new dress and a new 'promotion' made her queen of the No Man's Land. What a stuck-up brat. Joan could sense this and got more irritated.

"You know what? Fine, do whatever you want. I don't care, I'm leaving." I chuckled at her feeble attempt to make me feel bad. I didn't care if she left, in fact, I would be happier anyway. Joan was being no help at all.

"And where are you going? There's nothing around, going off to party with all your other duel monster friends?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. Joan twisted around, her hands balled into fists.

"No, but I am getting out of here. And if you would like to get out of here too, I would suggest you follow me."

"How am I supposed to know you're not just tricking me or leading me astray?" I asked. Joan stopped and turned around once more.

"What else do you have to lose? Like you said, there's nothing here. So you can either walk around aimlessly or follow the only lead you have." She had a point, unfortunately. I sighed with frustration; again with the wandering and the following. How annoying.

**-S-**

When we reached the basement level of Kaiba Corp. the elevator doors opened up, and Gozaburo was the first to walk out. I purposely made sure to keep a good amount of distance away from him; it seemed the habits I had picked up as a child were still going strong in many ways as I walked behind the very man that instilled them into me. I tried to look straight ahead, but my eyes kept wandering back towards Gozaburo.

There he was, the man that had ruined my life, walking at a reasonable pace in front of me. If I wanted, I could bash him over the head and beat him till he was black and blue. Or I could tackle him to the ground, use the very tie he was wearing to strangle him until he suffocated. I could've done many things, walking behind this aged man. After all, now I was no longer a child, but nearly a grown man myself, practically the same size as my abuser. I imagined each homicidal thought, slowly and delightfully.

But I didn't act upon any of these impulses. I was better than that; at least I had liked to believe. But after everything he had done to me… after all he had put me through… it would've only seemed fair to do the things I was thinking and yearning to do. It would've been the pay back he had never received; the fact that he had killed himself just wasn't enough for me.

I felt like he deserved more than taking his own life. I suddenly wished it had been who had taken his life instead.

"So Seto… what are you think about? I'm sure you are mentally preparing yourself for our face off in a duel, are you not?" Gozaburo said without looking my way.

"I don't need to do any sort of preparation to defeat you, Gozaburo. I'm the best there is at this game and you're a fool for challenging me to begin with." I could hear Gozaburo chuckle. The homicidal thoughts returned immediately as he spoke.

"The best there is, huh? I could believe that… although I wasn't alive to witness your success, news finds its way into the virtual world. You were quite the champion. That is… until a certain someone beat you." I imagined punching him, kicking him, making him bleed all at once… but I didn't. I couldn't show him my frustration; I couldn't lay all my cards out on the table. Gozaburo was just trying to break my focus. I wasn't going to let him do that. I took a deep breath.

"Even the greatest duelists must accept defeat," I said in a calm manner. I wasn't even sure if that was a quote of mine or an actual saying, but I was hoping it would force Gozaburo to move onto another topic as we made our way towards the dueling stadium.

"Ah, I see…" Gozaburo said, clearly unconvinced, "And what of young Mokuba? Is he still around? I'm surprised the boy isn't here right now, hanging on your every word like the lost little puppy that he is." My eyes shot open. No, he wouldn't dare. I had to keep my cool; I had to keep telling myself to stay calm…

I decided the best course of action would be nothing. I was going to say absolutely nothing and then maybe he would stop talking…

"I suppose he would be eleven at this point, wouldn't he? Hm… interesting" I heard Gozaburo begin, I could sense what was coming next, "I do hope that boy has gotten a bit smarter with age. Do you remember the day he learned about the dangers of fire? What a silly little boy he was at five… Tell me Seto; have those burns of his healed yet?"

I grabbed one of Gozaburo's arms with my hand and used my other arm to slam against his neck. Within seconds, I had him pinned up against the wall.

"Don't you EVER talk about my brother again, you hear me? DON'T ever talk about what you did to him, you twisted old man. If you even utter his name again, I swear to god, I will-skin-you-ALIVE." Gozaburo was grinning with sick pleasure, he had made me snap. He had shown he was better than me, because he was in control. When I made this realization, I quickly took back my arm and stepped back. Gozaburo cracked his neck and rotated his shoulder a bit, but he was fine overall. More pleased than anything else.

"I see your still attached to that no good brother of yours. You're still and will always be weaker than me, Seto. As long as Mokuba exists, you will never truly be able to be stronger than me. It would've been better if you had just let him die all those years ago…" I felt the urge to lunge at him again, but I didn't. I knew I shouldn't.

"That's enough, Gozaburo," I spat through my gritted teeth; I walked past him and stopped just as I was right in front of him. I looked back and glared, "Save it for the dueling arena. There, we can determine who is truly the strongest." Gozaburo smirked. I turned away and kept walking forward, functioning purely on the anger I felt towards Gozaburo and nothing else. One thing was for sure, though.

I was going to kick Gozaburo's ass.

* * *

**A/N:** _Hey guys… so I'm not as excited about this chapter… not that it wasn't good, I feel like it was really good. But… it's one in the morning right now… and I really need to get to bed. I suppose you could say this is one of the many joys of summer time… and I do consider it a joy! I'm just soooooo tired right now. Well anyways, I know this took somewhat longer than the last chapter to get posted and I'm not sure what to say about that right now, but I do thank you all for reading and do pardon me if this doesn't make a lot of sense! Your reviews are welcome. I mean, appreciated. Hahaha, good night!_


	29. Chapter 29: Battles That Wage On

MythCreatorWriter: I agree? Lol. Yeah, I don't see this duel as being as horrible and non-enjoyable as the rest, as I've said before, but also because it's really short. I mean, it's only 2 episodes(which I don't know if that's short for a duel or not, haha, but it seems short) but there's also the fact that during the Gozaburo duel, both episodes are very choppy because other stuff is going on which means the duel is even shorter because it's not a full two episodes. So it should be done in a jiffy!(just like how I got the first half of it done in one chapter with the ability to show Mokuba's POV too, so that's rad) I'm glad you notice that, I do put a lot of humor in my stories, it's just very subtle or within the seriousness of the mood, which I think makes it more funny and ridiculous. Plus, I say what everyone is ALWAYS thinking during certain scenes, "Um, can Noah even do that? I mean, isn't that cheating? No? No one's gonna call him out on that? Okay… cool…?" Yeah, the Gozaburo burning story… uh, so I came up with that on the spot. Actually my step bro helped me come up with that, and it's not gonna be in the other story because I'm already too far ahead in it and I can't go back. Which makes me sad because it would've made a fantastic scene(I could've replaced it with the Mokuba throwing up scene, hahaha) Oh well… I wish I would get back my inspiration for that story because awesome stuff is coming up and I wanna write about it!o Yeah, I work especially hard to come up with artistic chapter titles; trying to make them as in depth to match up to the name of the story and all. And I get those kinds of death threats a lot, hahaha, love ya too! Thanks for the review!

.Zira: I've totally seen your username before! Have you reviewed past stories of mine? Or maybe you recently favorited me… either way, glad to hear from you! Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: I'm always working as fast as I can!:] Thanks for the review!

AZ300: Story of my life basically… well, when dealing with my younger brothers that is. Hahaha, thanks for the review! I'm glad you're liking the story!

Chapter 29: Battles That Wage On

**-S-**

I wasn't scared. I didn't feel fear when I walked onto that platform and watched Gozaburo step onto the platform opposite from me. I didn't feel a lot of things one might feel when about to have the showdown of his life. This was the moment I had been waiting for, this was my chance to really prove to myself and to my step father that I was the best and always had been the best. And yet I felt… absolutely… nothing. I watched Gozaburo with a blank face as he shuffled his deck and placed it down.

"Do I sense nervousness from you, Seto?" I was far from nervous. I said nothing. "Well, if you're ready, then we can begin." I placed my deck down in front of me.

"I'm ready," was all I could say. The field in front of us brightened, indicating that the duel was about to begin. We both drew six cards into our hand. I didn't even look at them; I didn't know what to think next. I had a feeling Gozaburo would take the privilege of going first. I didn't care.

"For my first move, I'll play the card Painful Choice. This magic card allows me to pick any five cards from my deck, show them to you, and you get to decide which one goes to my hand while the other four go to my graveyard."

"I know what it does, Gozaburo. Don't take me for a fool." Gozaburo smirked.

"Well alright then, I have chosen my five cards." Five images of five different cards appeared in front of Gozaburo. I reeled back in shock when I realized that the cards he chose were the five pieces that went with Exodia, The Forbidden One. "Did you think I didn't do my research? I've made in-depth study of your deck and I know how to defeat you."

I remembered that day so well; the way that Yugi had defeated me… his Exodia defeating all three of my Blue-Eyes. I hadn't seen it coming. Gozaburo looked content with the reaction he was getting from me. I brought myself back on purpose and washed away the emotion on my face, replacing it with burning determination.

"That's in the past. Even so, it doesn't matter because I'm about to send four of those pieces to the graveyard." I stated. I understood the way that Exodia worked, once a player held all five pieces in his hand he automatically wins, but why would Gozaburo send all four of them to the graveyard? He must've been up to something, I concluded.

"Then what are you waiting for? Didn't I teach you that hesitation is a sign of weakness when facing your enemies?" Gozaburo replied with a chuckle.

"Alright then, I chose the Right Arm of the Forbidden One as the card that will go to your hand." I said quickly, watching all the others disappear off the field and into the graveyard. Gozaburo definitely had a plan in mind as he played out his turn.

"Alright then, I'll bring the Right Arm to my hand and I'll play one card face down in defense mode. That'll be it… for now. Soon though, I'll be the one who will be saying 'Checkmate'."

"We'll see about that, but for now, it's my move!"

**-M-**

"Could you move any slower?" Joan asked, walking backwards as she watched me drag my feet. I looked up from the blankly white ground and glared at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is this too slow for you? Maybe I'd be able to move faster if we could take a break! It doesn't have to be a long break, just a five minute break…" I said with frustration. Joan rolled her eyes at me.

"What's the point of taking a break? Don't you want to get out of here? If I were in your shoes, I'd be running all across this place trying to get to that exit." I shook my head. It was no use trying to convince her otherwise. Even without the armor, Joan was a pretty hard headed person. Only a few moments ago I had hated her guts for ditching me before, but even now… I was still thankful for her company.

The emptiness of this place would've gotten to me otherwise. It was just nice having a friend of some sort to talk to. I decided I would try to pick up my pace and stop dragging my feet. Joan seemed to notice. She smiled.

"That's the ticket. We'll be there in no time now."

"Where is this place that you're taking me too anyway? I mean, is it still far away? I feel like we've been walking forever." Suddenly Joan stopped walking completely and was looking up.

"Actually, we might already be here. Look." She pointed straight ahead and I looked in that direction. I wasn't as happy as I imagined I would be to see the exit. I was more confused than anything else. I turned towards Joan.

"I don't get it. That's just a giant pyramid. That can't be the exit." And that's what it was. In front of us was a large, golden pyramid that was so tall, I couldn't even see the top from where I was standing. It was a different sort of pyramid though, but it looked like there was a kind of stairway going up the side of it. I turned back towards Joan. "How is that the exit? I mean, is there some doorway in the pyramid? Do we have to go down to the basement or something?" I asked. Joan shook her head.

"Oh no, we have to do the exact opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"You see that flight of stairs? Yeah, you have to climb those. The exit is right at the top of the pyramid." My jaw dropped open.

"You have to be kidding me… I can't climb that! I can't even see the top of that thing, it's so huge! There has to be another way… there just has to." I started twisting all around; looking for another possibly smaller pyramid we could climb instead. There had to be another exit. Climbing that thing would take so much more time than I was willing to spend in this place.

"Isn't there another nearby?!" I begged, hoping Joan really didn't expect me to have the energy to climb that pyramid after dragging me halfway across No Man's Land to even get here in the first place. But Joan looked serious about it. I frowned.

"You mean it? I really have to climb that thing to get out of here?" Joan put her hands on her hips as she gazed at the golden structure in front of us.

"Yep. This is the only way out," Joan smiled towards me, a gesture I was not expecting at all, "So you ready to do this? Do you want to get back home to your brother?" She was right. If I couldn't do this for myself, I at least had to be man enough to do this for Seto. After everything I suffered through, I should've been able to climb one pyramid, right?

I nodded my head.

"I'm ready," was all I could say. We both made our way towards the pyramid.

**-S-**

"I place one card face down and summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!" I said, placing the cards down in front of me. My Vorse Raider monster's hologram appeared below me on the battle field. I looked over at Gozaburo's side of the field. He had one card face down. There was a possibility it would be more powerful than my Vorse Raider, than again, knowing Gozaburo… he was probably bluffing. I decided to attack.

"Vorse Raider, attack Gozaburo's face down monster!" I commanded. I watched as my Vorse Raider sliced through Gozaburo's one defense. The card flipped and revealed itself to be the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, the card I had just allowed him to put into his hand. It immediately went to the graveyard. Now I was unsure of his strategy again.

"Why would you put that card on the field?"

"You're about to find out!" Gozaburo said with confidence. "Now that I have what I need, I can do this." Gozaburo drew another card from his deck and then placed another one from his hand onto the field.

"I'll activate Contract with Exodia." Now I was totally confused. I had never seen that card before. I didn't know what that meant for me. What could it do? Gozaburo began explaining himself, "Before I could activate this magic card, I had to make sure all five pieces of Exodia were destroyed. Next, I'll give up 2000 life points which will allow me to summon Exodia Necross." My eyes widened completely. I was freaking out.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Gozaburo's face darkened.

"Seto, it's over, so prepare for defeat. I'm about to summon the most feared creature in duel monsters; the mighty Exodia Necross!" Gozaburo's life points went all the way down to 2000 as a huge black version of Exodia arose from the field in front of me; I noticed it was almost identical to the real Exodia. I was baffled and slightly afraid. I had never seen this monster before and I didn't know what it was capable of.

Then I realized it only had 1800 attack points. My Vorse Raider had 1900 attack points, meaning my monster was still stronger.

"Gozaburo, it looks like you've made a slight miscalculation, because your Exodia is 100 points short of my Vorse Raider's attack power. My monster is still stronger than yours!"

"Never judge a monster by its strength. There is so much more to duel monsters than just attack points. You should know that. Now Exodia, attack Seto's monster now!" What was he doing? Attacking me? But he wasn't strong enough… or was he? His Exodia Necross launched a punch directly towards my monster, whom retaliated by throwing his sword back at him. Both collided, but nothing happened. Exodia Necross was still on the field and Gozaburo's life points was brought down another 100, now leaving him with 1900 life points left.

"What's going on? Explain what just happened. My Vorse Raider should've destroyed it."

"My Exodia Necross cannot be destroyed by another monster. And in addition, it gains 1000 attack points every time it engages in a battle." That was going to make things… complicated. That brought his Exodia's attack points up to 2800 now. "Now don't you see? My monster is invincible, defeat is immanent!" I regained my calm composure and went to start my turn.

"Not quite, for now it's my move." The fact that his monster couldn't be destroyed was a tricky concept, but it didn't make his monster invincible. There were other ways of destroying monsters, and I knew all about them. "I summon Spirit Ryu onto the field." I flipped my trap card that was on the field too.

"Now I'll activate my Burst Breath card! This card sacrifices my Spirit Ryu and destroys every monster on the field with fewer than 1000 defense points. And because Exodia Necross has 0 defense points; that means your Exodia is destroyed." My Spirit Ryu was destroyed, my Vorse Raider remained on the field because of its 1200 defense points and Gozaburo's Exodia Necross… was still standing? But how? Gozaburo looked very pleased with himself.

"I see that you're confused, let me explain; my monster is granted special effects from the five Exodia cards in my graveyard. As long as the Left Leg is in my graveyard, no magic card can destroy my Exodia Necross and its Right Leg protects it from all of your trap cards. The Left Arm ensures that my Exodia is protected from the special effects of your monsters, and its Right Arm grants my creature the ability to gain 1000 attack points with every battle. And finally Exodia's head… this protects my beast from being destroyed by any of your monsters in battle."

I was shocked by all of this. I mean, it sounded like total bull shit to begin with, but now I just couldn't believe it! Even with the five pieces of Exodia in the graveyard, each of them was still powerful! I was starting to come to a brutal realization.

I couldn't destroy his Exodia Necross with magic, trap, or monster cards—making it… invincible.

Gozaburo's side of the field filled with his laughter.

"You may as well give up and admit defeat, Seto. There's nothing you can do to stop me!" I looked down at my cards in my hand and on my field. No… it couldn't end like this. It wouldn't, I wasn't going to allow it. It shouldn't end this way… that much I knew for sure.

"I refuse to be beaten by you…" I said in a low voice, looking down at my cards. I would do what I can for now to stay alive, and hope that a solution would come to me soon. "I place another card face down and switch Vorse Raider into defense mode!"

**-M-**

"You know what sucks?"

"What?"

"Having you watch me climb up a giant pyramid while you hover over each step without having to move a single muscle." Joan smirked as she batted her wings at me, almost causing me to fall over backwards. She flew forward and caught my shirt before I did. The annoyed look on my face, though, was unchanged. "Seriously, when did you become able to fly?"

"I told you, came with the promotion! And you know; you never truly realize how useful wings are until you come to situations like these… I mean, I could just fly around this thing forever…!" Joan said with joy, shooting up into the air and soaring all around. I frowned again, that was all I could do. She was so lucky…

"Attention! Can all of you hear me?" Joan stopped and looked up. "This is extremely important!"

"Hey, did you hear that?" She asked me. I had. It sound an awful lot like…

"Noah," I said quietly to myself, looking to the empty, white sky.

**-S-**

"This is a warning to all of you!" I heard a voice say over an intercom. I jumped a bit and looked up. Noah? What was he doing now? "Look, the virtual world that you're all in is about to be destroyed."

"Noah…" I said to myself.

"I'm so sorry for the way I treated you all, but now a satellite is set to destroy the main computer system. When that computer shuts down, the virtual world will collapse. You must escape or your minds will be lost forever!" I felt my body tighten, and suddenly it was harder to breathe.

So now the virtual world was going to collapse and if I didn't hurry… it would take my mind with it. And by the sound of Noah's voice, it didn't sound like we had much time.

We needed to get out of this place as soon as possible.

* * *

**A/N:** _Can you feel it, guys? The excitement? The anticipation? The rush of blood to the head?? It's all just so intoxicating! I couldn't be anymore pleased with the chapter I just presented you with! I was so worried about time and how everything would fit, but everything worked out gloriously and it matched exactly the point I wanted to reach! Now hopefully the next chapter will work out just as well, but you can never be sure. The clock is not only ticking for our heroes, but also for myself! I feel just as much of the pressure as the characters do right now! I mean, I GOTTA WRITE THIS BAD BOY!(it's…going…to be…AWESOME!) Anyways, thanks for reading and for once, I can't wait for the next chapter!_

_P.S: Oh in talking about the chapter itself, I know I'm making Seto curse more than I usually do but I feel like it's appropriate given the fact that he's dueling against Gozaburo. Yeah, just thought I'd mention it. KBYE!_


	30. Chapter 30: Checkmate

MythCreatorWriter: Oh of course I've got a lot still in my bag of tricks! After all, I am a magician, am I not?:] I'll always try to add a twist to every scene… for this scene, it's mainly going to be Mokuba's side of things… although, even that isn't all that great in this chapter. It will be in the next one though! This chapter is epic but I don't like it all that much. I should probably revise my author's note too… but that only means that the next chapter will be totally awesome!(so will the next chapter of Severance too!) It just sucks that I'll be leaving this weekend and be gone for a week. I don't know how much writing I'll be able to get in… but hopefully that'll give me a TON of time to sit back and plan everything out. It'll be great! Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: WOAH, didn't realize I had not a lot of reviews for the last chapter. That's fine, it's rad. Thanks for yours!:]

Chapter 30: Checkmate

**-S-**

I was taught to be strong in the face of danger. I was told to keep cool when the going got rough. It was funny to be thinking of these things when I was staring at the very man whom had taught them to me from across the field. It was even funnier to watch him freak out and not even bother following the very life lessons he had beat into me. After seeing his worried face, I became more confident and sure I would win this. With or without that Exodia Necross on the field, I was still stronger than him, that much was for sure.

"Father, your plan to digitize the planet has been ruined," Noah's voice said over the intercom. Gozaburo looked pissed. I couldn't say I didn't like the sight of him quivering in his shoes, but I had other important matters in mind. I looked up towards the ceiling.

"Noah, tell me. Is Mokuba okay?"

"Yes, he's safe. Don't worry." I looked back down towards Gozaburo. Now back to enjoying the show.

"You can't be serious! How could you betray me?! And after that I've done for you!" Gozaburo yelled.

"It's a little something I like to call pay back." Gozaburo growled. I had to admit; I still hated the kid, but anyone who could tick Gozaburo off this much, couldn't be that bad, especially if he had promised me Mokuba's safety. "You used me and everyone around for your own selfish goals. Well, not anymore!"

"Noah, you must reconsider! If you call off the missile's attack, I promise you that we can rule the digital world together!"

"You're too late, it's over." I smirked. Gozaburo's plans had been ruined and his face had been priceless. I suppose this would be a good time to get back to business.

"Looks like you've failed again. So I guess there's only one thing left to do."

"Yes, I guess there is. Escape from this place. And since I don't have a body of my own…" Suddenly Gozaburo looked down, and his image changed completely. He took on the shape of some sort of purple flame demon as he shot into the air and came towards me with giant flaming claws, "I'll just have to take yours!" He thought he was going to take my body, just like that? I didn't think so. Somehow I had expected better.

"Not so fast." Gozaburo stopped just before he was about to grab me. I narrowed my eyes. "As a duelist, you can't just quit in the middle of the duel. If you want to prove your power, then you better get back in your corner and finish this. The winner gets to escape in my body. Then we can find out who really deserves to be president of Kaiba Corp." As a person who knew Gozaburo well, I couldn't be 100% sure that Gozaburo would follow through and play nicely.

Gozaburo withdrew from his giant form and returned back to the other side of the arena, changing back to his normal human form.

"Fine. I accept your foolish challenge! I'll make sure it's your mind that gets erased by the end of this." Gozaburo proclaimed, "Now it's my move. Exodia Necross, attack Seto's Vorse Raider right now!" Exodia Necross readied its attack, but I had a move of my own.

"I'll activate the trap card, Negate Attack! It stops your monster's attack leaving my Vorse Raider unharmed." His Exodia Necross couldn't be destroyed by traps, but I could still stop his attacks using them. There were more tricks to this trade than that old man was aware of.

"What are you doing? Don't you see that you're merely delaying your eventual defeat? My Exodia Necross is unstoppable, so just accept that I've beaten you this time." Oh, that poor misguided fool. He hadn't the slightest idea what I had in store for him.

"You're mistaken, considering your Exodia Necross is far from unstoppable. I've already figured out a way to defeat it."

"Really? Then do it, boy, I dare you." Those words would mark his defeat.

**-M-**

"That… didn't sound good." Joan looked over at me after we had heard the announcement of the virtual world's oncoming end. I was still staring up at the white wash sky, wondering where everything had gone wrong. More like how I was going to kill Noah next. I couldn't believe him! Taking my body and now destroying the virtual world?! I didn't care if he said he was sorry or not! I was still going to make sure I got out of this place so I could beat him to a pulp.

I started sprinting up the steps as quickly as I could. Fueled by only a few things, but the main one being revenge. I was going to make sure that Noah kid paid for everything he had done. I couldn't believe I had trusted him in the first place! I couldn't believe I had actually offered to make a BODY for him!

"Hey, where are you going?" Joan asked, turning around and finding that I was several stairs ahead. She flew over to me and was hovering besides me.

"Where do you think? I'm getting out of here as soon as possible so I can KILL Noah!" I yelled, trying to out run her flying. It didn't work out so well, but I didn't care. I had one goal in mind and one goal only; getting out of this place. I wasn't going to let that missile hit until I was out of here and back in my own body.

"Kill him, huh? You're quite the murderous eleven-year-old, aren't you?" I didn't have time to listen to her. I wasn't going to forgive Noah for this. For once, I understood Seto's rage towards the people that turned against him. "Oh, you're ignoring me now? Fine, do as you please. But think about this; what will you gain from killing Noah?"

"A pleasure I so honestly deserve!" Joan blinked.

"Wow, that's creepy. Maybe you should consider giving the kid a break."

"Just shut up and stop defending him! Noah isn't just some kid; he's a devil of a person, just like his step father! And I won't stop until he gets what's coming to him!" I pushed myself harder in an attempt to go faster. I was going to get out of this place if it was the last thing I did. Nothing was going to stop me.

**-S-**

I drew a card from my deck and put it in my hand.

"I'll activate the magic card, Shrink. This card reduces Exodia Necross's attack strength in half." That brought Exodia Nexross's attack down to 1400 now. "Next I'll sacrifice my Vorse Raider to summon Luster Dragon. Now Luster Dragon, attack his Exodia Necross!" I commanded of my monster from below. Luster Dragon shot a blast from its mouth at Exodia Necross. It didn't destroy his monster, but it brought Gozaburo's life points down to 900. I smirked.

"So your monster does have a weakness after all, just as I thought." Gozaburo was enraged to hear this.

"What is it?! Tell me!"

"Even though your monster can't be sent to the graveyard, when it is attacked by a monster stronger than it is, you still lose life points. Your monster maybe invincible, but that doesn't mean that you are. I can just as easily defeat you."

"We'll see about that. My Exodia Necross still gains 1000 attack every time it battles with another monster, bringing it back up to 3800," That was an effect I hadn't forgotten and would be a tricky thing to get past, "Now Exodia, attack his Luster Dragon!" My Luster Dragon was hit and destroyed with one blow, bringing my own life points down to 2600.

"I think you know what happens next," Gozaburo said in reference to his monster's effect. Exodia Necross grew another 1000 in strength, now it had an attack power of 4800. This didn't look promising for me, but it wasn't impossible either. I could still win this.

**-M-**

Sweat was dripping down the sides of my face. Every step up felt like a march closer to the end. By this point in time, I was no longer walking up the stairs, but crawling on all fours. I was so tired and exhausted by this point that I took about an extra ten seconds or so to make it up each step, and with each one I passed, the time stretched longer. I was out of breath and already on the brink of giving up.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea running up the stairs like a maniac…" Joan said, floating along side me as I made my way up. I glared at her.

"Well maybe I was in a hurry to get out of the virtual world… just before, you know, it blows up…" I said between pants. I looked up at the top of the never-ending pyramid. Even after running up so many steps, the top didn't look any closer from where I was crawling.

"It's your own fault since you're too tired to even climb efficiently." I ignored her comment and kept staring at the top. It didn't seem closer at all… how could that be? How was that possible? I turned to Joan for answers.

"I've been climbing these steps forever and yet the top isn't any closer. How do I know it's even an exit?"

"You don't know." I narrowed my eyes. I wasn't in the mood for clever remarks, I wanted answers!

"How do I know you're not just lying to me just to steal my body in the end?"

"You don't know." I stopped climbing up the steps for a moment, turned towards her.

"How do I know you existed in the first place?" Somehow I expected the same statement, but instead my question was answered with another question. She stopped moving as I had, staring at me.

"Did I exist?" That wasn't a response I was thought I was going to get. Somehow I was more annoyed than confused.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't you know?" Joan shrugged.

"Mokuba… I'm just a virtual simulation of a memory. For all I know, I could've just been a figment from your past." I eyed her again. Now she was probably just messing with me. I felt like I had seen this once before, on a movie or something like that.

"Is that so? What next? I bet you're going to tell me now that I might not have even existed, or maybe you're going to say this whole thing is one bad dream and that I'll wake up in my bed, back home, and everything will be normal again. Am I right?" Joan was just hovering there, staring at me. She had been serious about what she had said… which didn't make me feel better. Suddenly I was completely lost again. Somehow I had wanted her to say all those things…

"It's easy to pass judgment onto others; it's easy to say a lot of things…" Joan slowly flew over to me and landed on one of the steps above me. She walked down so that we were standing on the same step; her serious face had not changed to any other expression. "What it comes down to is what you think. Sometimes you have to look inward at your own personal faults to fully believe and understand that you're human, just like everyone else." Joan put her hand on my chest. I looked at her hand and looked up.

What did this all mean? What could she possibly be trying to get across to me? I didn't understand how this connected to whether a person existed or not, or how it even related to whether I could trust her or not. She kept telling me to look inward, but to look for what? And on top of all this, I couldn't get Noah out of my head, along with all the terrible cruel things he had done to me. But what did this mean? What did ANY of this mean?

And suddenly it came to me. Almost like a shock wave of understanding.

"I get it now," I said, out loud, and unexpectedly. Joan looked surprised.

"You do?"

"Yes!" I declared, turning around and taking off back up the steps. Joan floated up and started flying beside me again.

"Care to share with the whole class what you learned?" I didn't look her way; my eyes were focused only on the steps in front of me. I shook my head.

"I can't right now. I have to get out of here; I need to get to the exit!" And off I went, with a full head of understanding, and a heavy heart. There was something that had to be done, and I didn't have much time left to do it.

**-S-**

Most people would've given up at this point, in the face of this seemingly indestructible monster. I wasn't like most people. I was better than most people, in fact. I drew a card from my deck and planned my next move.

"I activate the card Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two cards from my deck," I drew two cards from my deck and proceeded with my turn, "Next I'll play a monster face down and a spell card face down on the field. That'll be all for now." Gozaburo growled with frustration. I was getting to him, finally it had been turned the other way around. I was in his head.

"How can you be so confident when it's obvious that I have the advantage? You'll never be able to summon a monster more powerful than Exodia Necross!"

"We'll see about that. You have a lot to learn about the game of duel monsters; the first rule being that you should never rely on the power of a single monster to win a duel." Gozaburo ignored me. I was amazed by his ignorance. He really thought he was going to win this one. He was deathly wrong.

"Exodia Necross, attack his face down monster!" I watched calmly as my Ancient Lamp was destroyed and Exodia Necross attack rose to 5800. "If I were you, I'd be a little more nervous, son. Aren't you smart enough to see that there's nothing left for you to do?" I assumed he was done with his turn and drew a card from my deck. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Excellent.

"First I'll play Monster Reborn to bring my Ancient Lamp back from the graveyard," I said, "Then I use my Lamp's ability to special summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp to the field."

"And what's the point of that?"

"I'll tell you. There's a reason I haven't been able to destroy your Exodia Necross… I've been attacking its body, when I should've been attacking its soul," I brought up my fist into the air, "So now I'll activate the trap card, Soul Demolition, which allows me to destroy all the monsters in your graveyard at the cost of 500 life points each."

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Gozaburo yelled in horror as his graveyard was wiped clean of all pieces of Exodia. His Exodia Necross's color changed from dark black to its original golden brown. Gozaburo stood in total disbelief, staring at his monster.

"I can and I just did. Now without those pieces of Exodia, all of his effects are gone and his attack goes back down to its original 1800." Gozaburo gritted his teeth in anger. But I wasn't done; there was still one more card to be played. "Now that your monster is no longer protected, I'll sacrifice both of my creatures to summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" I threw down my card and watched the field explode with light as my dragon came forth in all its glory.

"NO!!!"

"I'll attack your Exodia Necross with White Lightning attack!" My Blue-Eyes shot a beam straight on into Exodia Necross and I watched with utter delight as it crumbled to pieces and was destroyed. Gozaburo's life points dropped down to 0. I had won the duel. I looked up to see his frustrated face and found the need to only say one word to him as a proclamation of my victory.

"Checkmate."

* * *

**A/N:** _DONE! Yes! This chapter is finally done! But before I get into anything, I have to say(this is totally a random add in, sorry if it doesn't match with the tone of the rest of my note), Joan was ANNOYING IN THIS CHAPTER. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I was thinking I wanted to kill Joan more than Mokuba wanted to kill Noah! But maybe that's just me. I swear the next chapter will shine upon her character more lightly… Back the original note now- You know, I have to say. I was worried about it, I didn't know how it would go, if everything would fit… but only 200 words over and it ended wonderfully! I'm a little sad that I didn't get to complete the whole episode itself, but I had a feeling it wouldn't. This was a great way to end this chapter on, though. And I honestly can't wait for the next because, yep, you guessed it, NO MORE DUELS!:D Now there's only to be straight up fun, running to save their lives, and explosions in attempt to take their lives. DOESN'T IT SOUND GREAT?! I think it does! Thanks for reading! Stay turned for the next chapter!_


	31. Chap 31: Escape! From The Virtual World

MythCreatorWriter: Oh my gosh, you know what I love? I love listening to Yu-Gi-Oh! Sound Duel 2. It's So awesome. I love all the acoustic music they use in the Japanese version, it's fantastic. Anyways, oh yeah, so last chapter, I forgot to mention in the author's note that you wouldn't be able to understand what she meant till this chapter. My bad! Don't feel bad for being confused; you aren't supposed to get it till now. Don't worry, it'll all be explained in this chapter(although sometimes I feel like I didn't explain it well, but I'll let you tell me what you think in your next review:3) Nah, I had Yugi's puzzle in mind, except without the eye. It's basically just a giant, golden pyramid, nothing special. I actually got the idea for that from my brother. I needed something for Mokuba to climb up and struggle to overcome but I wasn't sure what. I was thinking a cliff but that just seemed too dangerous. Yeah, wow, I remember talking to my brother about it after school one day in KFC. Anyways, so my brother tells me, "Why not make it a pyramid?" And I thought, 'Cool!' Because it relates back to the show and allows me to do other stuff. Wow this is long talking about a pyramid… tight! Sorry again for your confusion, thanks for the review though!

WhiteAsukalover: Why thank you! I don't know if I was going for funny last chapter, but hey, a laugh never hurt anyone and I sure love laughing myself. So thank you for the review!

Chapter 31: Escape! From The Virtual World

**-M-**

There comes a time in every man's life… where he must give up. Where he throws in the towel, says he gave it his very best shot, and gently lowers his arms in defeat. I was already far past that point as I lay there in agony, the stairs I had my body laying across was stabbing my spine. It was done, I was finished.

I had heard the virtual world computer system announce that time was running short, it was going to shut down soon and I simply didn't have anymore energy to pull my way up the rest of those steps. Even though the tip top of the pyramid was in sight, only a couple steps from reach, I couldn't move a single muscle. Some things just weren't meant to be.

Over to my side, Joan was hovering around me, shouting things, probably trying to convince me to get up and keep moving. I was too tired to make out much what she was saying, but I could understand a few things.

"Come on Mokuba, you can do this! You're almost there!" My eyes felt very heavy. I was so tired and my body was drenched with sweat. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. I turned my head slightly, opening my eyes halfway as I stared up at her. Joan looked desperate, almost afraid. "The virtual world is going to blow! You need to get up!"

"I can't…" I whispered, "I'm sorry, but I can't… I tried… but even those last couple steps seem like a thousand miles for me." Joan shook her head, standing above me now, continuing to try and convince me otherwise.

"You can do this, Mokuba. I know you can. Just get on your feet. All you need to do is touch the top of the pyramid and you'll be free to go." My body cringed at the thought of anymore movement. I tried to move my arms but it just wasn't possible. I titled my head up and looked into the blank and empty sky. I was panting heavily. Death was imminent, but acceptance had already overcome me. "Mokuba, the exit isn't that far away! Just get up!"

"Look Joan, just shut up, okay? I'm done," I snapped, Joan fell silent, "I… I know I won't be able to make it out of here… and I'm okay with it, I understand it now." Joan's expression shifted with confusion. I decided to explain to her my realization, since there was no reason to hide it now.

"You were right about me… about passing judgment on other people, about understanding other people… about everything. I was so angry at Noah; I hated him so much for what he had done. Then, I don't know, I just started thinking about it and realizing that… if I or Nii-sama had ever been in his situation, I would've done the same thing.

"We would've done _anything_ to get out of this place… we would've gone to any length to obtain a body of our own and escape. That's why I can't be angry at Noah anymore. He only did what any one of use would've done… what any other human would've done. Deep down… I know I would've done the same." I slowly started to close my eyes, wanting my exhaustion to take over and pull me into a deep slumber as the virtual world crashed around me, accepting my fate.

But the sleep never came and instead, I felt two gentle arms lift me up from the ground. My body was slowly lifted up and began to float in the air as I was being carried. I opened my eyes and looked up, assuming it was Joan who was taking me to the exit. But when I looked up, I didn't see what I had expected.

Instead of her short, brightly orange hair, it had changed and grown to be much longer, turning to a jet black color. Her eyes had faded from being a crystal blue to a deep violet, glistening in whatever light this place produced. Her outfit didn't change much; the gold had disappeared from her dress, now it was only a pure white color, the end of the dress fluttering in the wind. And her wings seemed to have gotten bigger, with giant, beautiful feathers, becoming similar to that of… an angel.

My eyes widened when I realized who she was, who Joan really was, just as she descended me down to the ground. I opened my mouth but it seemed there was no words I could say to fully describe how I felt in that instance. I felt my energy come back as she placed me on my feet. Her soft-skinned hand lightly held mind as she placed my palm on the pyramid's top, and everything around me began to glow as it always did before I was about to transport to another location.

But I wanted to stay here…! Joan had been right before. She hadn't been real, but she wasn't just another virtual simulation of a memory from my distant past… she was my mother. Or at least… what I had never realized I remembered of her.

"I couldn't let your soul parish here, now could I?" I shook my head. I reached out towards her; the winds surrounding me began to pick up. It was time to go, but I didn't want it to be. I wanted to stay with her… forever.

She took up both my hands within hers, patting them softly. I was mesmerized by the eyes that were identical to mine, truly a mirror into a kind and welcoming soul.

"There are some things that can't be explained in many words… All I know is that you and your brother need to be together. You are strong, my dearest Mokuba, but Seto… he cannot survive without you. You must return to him in the real world." Suddenly I began floating upwards, things became so bright, but I held her hand tightly. I didn't want her to leave, I wanted her to be with me… but I felt her grip slowly slip out of mine. "I love you… Mokuba."

"I love you… Mother."

Everything went white.

**-S-**

"How could I lose this?!"

"That's what happens when you go challenge someone who is superior to you in every way," I said with certain smugness, standing across from him with my arms crossed. Gozaburo slammed his hands down.

"I'll show you WHOSE SUPERIOR BY TAKING OVER YOUR BODY!" Gozaburo's body changed again; reverting back to the purple, flame monster he was before. He rose up, growing ten times his normal size. Gozaburo ran across the field towards me. I took a step back.

"What about our agreement??" I yelled. Gozaburo threw his hand in my direction.

"THE AGREEMENT'S OFF!" Gozaburo yelled, slashing his hand towards me. Suddenly the dueling platform was pulled backward, just in time for me to be able to completely miss his attack. I quickly turned and looked back. It was Yugi who was standing in the control room; he had his hand on the lever that had just saved me from being pummeled a second ago.

"Yugi?"

"JUMP KAIBA!" Yugi commanded. I did as he said and leaped right off the platform. Gozaburo launched his hand forward and destroyed the platform just as I had gotten away. I landed skillfully into the control room where Yugi was standing. He clicked a button and a doorway opened up in the control room. "HURRY!"

We both ran out of the room, an explosion was heard from behind us as Gozaburo had most likely busted through the entire building chasing us. I kept my eyes forward even amongst all the noise and saw another doorway up ahead that would lead us to the landing on top of Kaiba Corp. I slipped my hand onto the lock and opened the door. Another explosion could be heard as he busted onto the landing… he was gaining on us.

Both of us jumped through the smoke that surrounded us and continued running.

"You've got to escape! Head to the Domino Arcade immediately!" I heard Noah's voice say overhead. I didn't feel exhausted or tired while I was running for my life, but I could sense Gozaburo was getting closer. We both stopped simultaneously when we reached the edge of the landing. I heard Yugi gasp.

"Oh crap, a dead end." We both turned around at the same time. Gozaburo was only a couple feet away, he was laughing loudly at our misfortune.

"You boys aren't going anywhere…" Gozaburo said.

"Jump now!" Noah said. I turned back around and looked down. It was a long way down from here. This wasn't safe and there was no way I was going to jump to my death from the top of Kaiba Corp. That would've been way too ironic.

"I don't think so, I'd rather live," I said quickly.

"We have to trust him!" Yugi declared, running forward and jumping off the side of the building. I followed him, falling forward with Yugi only a couple feet in front of me. All I could think was that I was going die… with Yugi, of all people. I shook my head. I really didn't want to die this way… I _really _didn't.

Suddenly a portal appeared just below us.

"Noah opened a doorway!" Yugi announced.

'Oh thank god…' was all I could think to myself as we fell through and were consumed by the transporting light.

"Satellite attack, approaching," I heard the virtual system say just as I opened my eyes. The glass covering the top part of my pod opened up and I sat up. I looked down at my hands and all around the room. We were back in the real world, at last.

"It's about time," I said to myself with satisfaction. That was a close one. The pod next to me opened up right after mine; Yugi popped his head out of it.

"We made it back to the real world." I turned my head to the side; the pod to my right still contained Mokuba. There wasn't much time left.

"Mokuba… he's still in there." I got out of my pod quickly and clicked on the control pad. I forced the glass top to open. Mokuba's eyes were still closed. I assumed his mind was still trapped in the virtual world. I started calling out to him. I needed him to wake up; we had to get out of this place! Time was running out.

**-M-**

I wasn't out of the virtual world. No, not just yet, I was in a different place though. At first I was pretty sure the virtual world had exploded and my mind had been lost, after realizing Joan was my mother and all, but then I appeared in this strange, misty place that wasn't as boring as No Man's Land. Something about it, however, assured me I was still in the virtual world to some degree. Not to mention the fact that I opened my eyes to see Noah, standing right in front of me.

But my anger had vanquished and I was at peace… Noah was looking at me with gratitude. I had a feeling there was still time left to get out of here.

"Thank you for helping me, Mokuba. I'm glad I got to know my brother."

"So… does this mean you're not coming back?" I asked simply and without thought.

"I am. But I must return to cyber space first…" My eyes widened and I leaned forward.

"But it's shutting down Noah!" I heard my frightened voice echo in the distance. Noah slowly turned away from me.

"I'll be back."

"Then come with me!" I pleaded, wishing he would only just agree with me and go. Noah looked back towards me.

"I'm afraid there's still something I have to do. You believed in me… and you treated me like a brother. Now it's my turn to return the favor…" Noah started turning back around and faded away from me. I reached out towards him, calling for him to come back.

"No! Please don't go! Noah!"

"I am a human being, not a machine…" was the last thing I heard Noah whisper as he started to disappear from my sight. I shook my head. Tears formed on the brim of my eyelids as I tried to reach farther and farther towards Noah who could no longer be seen as I was being pulled back. I heard another voice in the back ground, one that was calling my own name. I continued to reach out towards Noah; I couldn't want to leave without him…!

"Mokuba! Open your eyes!" My eyes shot open, Seto and Yugi were standing over me. I was… in the real world. "Mokuba…" Seto said softly with relief. I sat up.

"Nii-sama, Noah is still back there!" Seto shook his head and picked me up out of the pod and onto the ground.

"We need to get out of here… right now." Yugi nodded with agreement.

"Let's go!" All three of us began running through-out the station. The emergency siren was going on, and the hallways kept blinking bright red.

"Alert. Alert. Central computer will destruct. Evacuate immediately," the robotic voice said over head as we were running through. I had to keep running; I knew that was all I should be focusing on. But I couldn't; my mind was in another place. Noah was the only thing I could think about.

"Why did Noah have to go back to that place? It's not fair!" I said, closing my eyes and looking down. Yugi placed his hand on my back as we were running and I looked back at him in surprise.

"I know you feel bad but we have to get out of here. You can't let yourself get distracted." I took in a deep breath and nodded. Yugi was right. I had to get out of here first. As I looked up, we sprinted out of the building and onto the landing. The sun was shining brightly over us. The KC blimp could be seen lifting off just up ahead, but there was still a long way to go before we would make it and my legs felt like they were breaking. I wasn't use to running in the real world.

Joey, Tristan, and Duke positioned themselves on the stairway into the blimp, each of them was holding out their hands towards us. I noted Joey was yelling for us to hurry up but I couldn't quite hear him. My heart was beating much too fast. We were getting close, but it still seemed too far. Suddenly I felt like I was back in the state I had been in back in the virtual world… my legs were going to give out any second. It was all over.

"I'm not going to make it!" I cried, feeling that in the next five seconds my legs would stop working and I would get left behind.

"Not on my watch!" Seto said, grabbing me by the shirt and flinging my entire body into the air and into the arms of Duke. I watched as my brother leap over all of us and landed right on the top of the stairway. I was… in shock.

"Okay, they're in, LET'S GO!" I was tossed into the main lobby with everyone else and the rest of them rolled in just as the missile hit the station below. We immediately felt the explosion erupt, and could see the flames right out our window. We weren't far enough away; the blast was still going to get us. Everyone had fallen to the floor, everything was shaking so much. I grabbed onto a random railing I had found and held on for dear life.

In these crucial moments, I recalled what people had said about near-death experiences, how their lives would flash before their eyes. That didn't happen with me. Instead of seeing my past, I saw my future, I saw the things I would never get to experience, and I saw my death. Then I saw… Noah.

**-S-**

I had no time to waste. I stumbled my way into the control room. One of my co-pilots turned back towards me.

"This blimp is too slow! We're not going to get out of here in time!" I spotted the captain's seat and took this opportunity to get in it.

"I'm taking control," I stated, somehow in the back of my mind I heard Gozaburo speaking to me… saying that I would never escape. The flames were beginning to consume the entire blimp. But I wasn't going to have it, Gozaburo wasn't going to win. "Not this time, old man!" I yelled, slamming my fist down onto the emergency control. Now all I could do was wait… and watch.

The blimp thrust forward as the afterburners ignited, leaving the explosion behind and flying freely into the air. The flames had disappeared from the windows and we had somehow managed to escape the blast. I had won… again. Gozaburo was never going to defeat me.

We had escaped the virtual world, alive.

* * *

**A/N:** _THERE. WIN. I WIN ALL OF YOU. YES! Oh man… I gotta tell ya folks, writing these intense scenes are SUCH a thrill for me but my god, are they intense. I mean, I have this splitting head ache just from writing it. I mean, there's a missile coming and they have to get out and I have to fit the word count and everyone has their fingers crossed and yeah, things are NUTS! But hey, it's also crazy because I think there's only about another chapter left in this story. Isn't that crazy/sad? I can't believe it myself, but it's been one wild ride! I realize some people might've been somewhat confused by stuff in the last chapter, but I hope this chapter was able to wrap things up pretty well. Like I said, only about one chapter left so it looks like I have to conclude everything pretty soon. It's sad but it'll be fun too! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, thanks for reading!_

_P.S: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOKUBA!!!!!:) _


	32. Chapter 32: The Great Pretender

Sandstorm Amaterasu Zira: He sure can, my friend:] And thank you! I shall always try to succeed at that, it's like my number one goal in life(okay, so maybe its not, I think we can all agree that everyone's number one goal should be to try and succeed our own self goals, but succeeding other people's goals is nice too!) Thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: Wasn't it an epic plot twist?! I did think it was pretty clever myself when I came up with it. As I have said before; not sure if I was going for a laugh, but if you did, I still think it's a good human reaction to have. And I didn't save Noah because that's not what happens in the show. Although I have some very original scenes, I am trying to go along with the show as well, only filling in plot holes in between to do my own thing with them, I'm sorry to say. Thanks for your review though!

MythCreatorWriter: Dude, do you want to know the dirty little secret behind Joan being his mother? That plot device was made up ON THE SPOT. No joke, in the last, last chapter, when Joan was talking about her not existing… I had already pre-written that scene on paper because I tend to think of conversations more than actual scenes and I build my scenes off of those. So I was typing it out in the chapter and dear lord, I had no idea what I was getting at, it was just supposed to make Mokuba think. And then the other day I was walking with my family to get lunch and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, she's his mom.' Like, it literally just came to me, like that, totally random. I actually got that idea when we first came to the beach… cool! I don't think Mokuba is the only one who gets to see her; I like to think with my stories its spread out evenly between both brothers. About the Noah thing, I switched it up a bit by mixing in both things he said in the English and Japanese version, which is exactly what I did in this chapter in some ways as well. Sometimes the Japanese have more in depth lines, but the Americans tend to explain the situation better by sacrificing the in depth lines. It kinda sucks, but that's how it is. Anyways, I better start my editing, but thanks for the review!

Chapter 32: The Great Pretender

**-M-**

When I opened my eyes I hadn't expected to be alive. I mean, I really hadn't. I think I might've blacked out a bit during the blast, but I wasn't sure. I couldn't remember much of the escape except when I had been holding into the railing, looking out the window and seeing nothing but flames. Oh yeah, and thinking about Noah. That was something else that was on my mind before I kind of… faded out.

I got up and looked around. Everyone was just now recovering from the explosion and getting up on their feet, the passengers all seemed relatively okay from my end. But as I scanned the room, I couldn't see Seto anywhere. Where had he gone? I remembered him assuring me about something, and then running out of the room after he did… I got up in a fright.

I tumbled on my feet as I ran across the room in the direction of the navigation room. Just as I was halfway there, I spotted Seto just exiting it. His face was cool and collected, as always, but I could spot a bit of sweat on his face. I had a feeling that was because Seto hadn't been too sure we would make it out of that blast either when we were making our escape. His face brightened when he saw me at the end of the hallway.

"Mokuba, are you alright?" I didn't bother answering him. I ran towards him, my uneasiness gone as I leapt into his arms and hugged him.

"Please say it's over…" I said quietly to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Seto hugged me as well, patting my back soothingly.

"It's over, little brother, it's over. You're going to be just fine…" Seto's voice was soft and delicate, speaking words and spreading calmness throughout my body, but somehow… I couldn't completely feel the same way. All of me wanted to listen to his every word and agree with him, but a part of me knew that just wasn't true. I didn't say anything about it, though, even as we broke away from one another.

"I have to see how the other passengers are doing, did everyone seem okay to you?" Seto asked me as we started walking back down the hall in the direction I had come from. I briskly attempted to keep up with his pace as we walked.

"Yeah, everyone seemed fine."

"Even… Joey?" I chuckled a little.

"Yeah, even Joey."

"Damn," Seto said under his breath, but loud enough so that I could hear. I let out a heartfelt laugh or two. Seto grinned as we entered the viewing room; which was the room that was between the lobby and the control room. His grin disappeared as we did when he saw that everyone had shifted from the lobby into the viewing room, the attention fell on Seto when he entered.

"Kaiba, there you are. We thought we lost you since we didn't see you after we got back into the blimp…" Yugi said.

"We had hoped we lost you…" Joey said under his breath. I knew my brother had heard that, but didn't necessarily care that he did. Joey seemed to be the only one disgruntled by my brother's unharmed condition.

"Where did you go?" Serenity asked.

"I went into the control room."

"Wait; were you the one who got us out of that blast?"

"Who else do you think could've done it?" Yugi's friends seemed to be pretty impressed by this, I wasn't though. I was use to seeing my brother excel in stressful situations. What was truly amazing was that he always managed to come out successful in the end, knowing I wasn't as skilled.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Serenity said with amazement. The subject was quickly dropped though when Yugi and his friends noticed the viewing window at the edge of the room. They all walked towards it, Seto and I followed without much of a thought. Yugi and his friends were looking down, somewhat saddened to see Noah's station up in flames in the middle of the ocean.

"…You know, Noah might've been a jerk at the beginning, but he turned out alright in the end. The kid did have it pretty rough," Joey commented.

"Yeah… All he ever wanted was to be loved by his father," Tea said with sympathy, "I wonder if his mind was destroyed when the computer was destroyed."

"Noah made a great sacrifice to save us all… but knowing him, he probably saved his mind on a backup file. I'm sure he'll be back," Yugi said with ease. For a brief moment I looked over at Yugi and smiled. The idea was a nice thought, and I honestly hoped that he was telling the truth.

After all that Noah did for us, he deserved to be able to have a chance to be alive again.

I noticed a small table nearby with some white lilies placed on top. I took the bundle of them out of the vase and held them towards an opening in the window. I carefully fitted the flowers out and dropped them through the window. I felt it was appropriate to honor Noah's memory, and the chance he had of returning to the real world.

As I watched the lilies float down onto the water, I kept hearing Noah's voice in my head, mainly the last thing I had heard him say before I escaped the virtual world.

_'I am a human, not a machine.' _I understood what he meant and I agreed. Someday, I hoped, Noah would return as the human that he was. Unfortunately, Seto's voice broke me out of my hopeful thoughts and did what he did best; go right back to business. Never was there a day where Seto neglected to remember his duties as CEO of Kaiba Corp. and as a top-ranked duelist.

"Alright, that little detour was a complete waste of my time and effort," Seto said with his arms folded. I looked up towards him just as he turned away, "So let's move on and pretend that nonsense never happened. It's now time for us to get back to the Battle City Finals. I'll set us back on course for Kaiba Corp. Island."

"What…?" I said quietly to myself. Seto then walked out of the room without saying anything else. I was in total disbelief after hearing him say such a thing.

"Yep, that's Kaiba for ya. Always a jerk, never caring about anything other than what he wants," Joey explained to Serenity, shaking his head with disagreement. "I swear; that guy acts as if nothing matters except winning and card games; mainly both." I looked down on the ground in disbelief. Was that really it? Was Seto really going to close the subject just like that by pretending it didn't happen? I couldn't believe him…

"Yeah, sometimes it really does seem that way. Kaiba sure has a way of moving on," Tea added.

"Eh, seems like more of an asshole kind of way of dealing with it," Tristan huffed. The whole group froze up with tension at the word and suddenly all turned towards me, expecting me to already be fuming with rage. They began handing out the apologies immediately.

"Hey, sorry Mokuba, I didn't mean for it to come out that way, your brother just has a different way of dealing with stuff…" Tristan said with quickness.

"Yeah! That's it; it's how he deals with stuff!" Duke stated. I shook my head as I came back to the conversation. I had heard the things they were saying, but I really didn't pay much attention to them. My mind was still trying to figure out why Seto would take everything that happened and just… act like it didn't matter.

"Um, yeah, sure, it's fine. I'm not mad. It's okay," I said, throwing out whatever forgiving phrase came to mind without really thinking about it, "I… uh, have to go…" I said in a bit of a dazed voice. The rest of the gang stared at me oddly, observing me as I walked out of the room, blank-faced.

"Hey Mokuba, you sure you're okay?" Yugi asked before I left the room.

"Yeah, I'm fine," waving a hand in the air without turning back towards him. I drifted out of the room aimlessly; I was too deep in my thoughts to pay attention to where I was going. I just wanted to be alone for a while… to think about some things. I started my way into the stairwell, deciding randomly that I would go up to the roof of the blimp, just until I got my head straight.

I really didn't understand why Seto's words were confusing me so much at that moment. I mean, I understood my brother, and how my brother was. It was the kind of response I would've expected him to say. Seto never looked too much into things that happened to the past, in fact, he usually just wanted to forget it all and move on. That was why we were even having the Battle City Finals at Kaiba Corp. Island. I was well aware that the island used to be where Gozaburo would produce weapons and military vehicles, until Seto took over, tore it all down, and built the duel tower.

It was Seto's intent from the very beginning, he had put this whole tournament together so that he could beat Yugi, be crowned the greatest duelist, and finally be able to put the memories of his past aside. That was the only reason this tournament existed… That's all Seto wanted to do. He just wanted to close the book and never look back again.

I came to the elevator and pressed the button. The doors opened up immediately and I stepped inside. I requested to go to the roof and the doors closed. I looked down at my feet in confusion as I waited.

Why was this bothering me so much? Seto had always been like this… always. I couldn't understand why it was getting to me now, especially since we just had our big confrontation back in No Man's Land. We finally talked about what happened in Duelist Kingdom, we had talked about everything! For the first time in months, I thought we were okay again…

So why did I feel like I was lost again? Why did I suddenly feel like I didn't know where we were anymore, or… where I was, at least? I was lost in a world of emotions and I couldn't understand why.

The doors opened and I walked through the long hallway. In less than a couple minutes I was on the roof. The rushing winds, even though they were violent, had a calming effect on me. I walked over to one of the railings by the edge and leaned on it. I looked down at the water below. It was a beautiful sight.

I began to think that maybe… just maybe, I had hoped for more out of my brother. I hoped that things would be different this time, that everything we went through had changed his mind and views on how he saw our past, that it wasn't something to just forget, that it was apart of us, apart of who we are to this day; apart of how we've become.

I put my head on my folded arms that I had prompted up on the railing. I closed my eyes a bit, letting the wind blow my hair in all different directions, wishing it could take these problems away, or at least this realization that my brother and I… were still not okay.

"Mokuba." I opened my eyes and turned my head. Seto was standing just outside the entrance onto the roof, he looked confused. "What are you doing up here? I've been looking for you everywhere. Why didn't you pick up your cell?" I put my hands to my sides, feeling both my pants pockets. They were empty.

"Sorry Nii-sama, I guess I must've forgotten my phone in my room." Seto didn't look pleased with my answer, but shrugged.

"Okay, well, come on. Lunch will be ready soon."

"But… I'm not hungry…" I said quietly. Seto gestured me to come over to where he was so we could walk in together. I knew sure he didn't hear me, especially with all the wind blowing around. I didn't repeat myself though; I just stuck my hands into my pockets and walked over to him. I followed him down the hall and into the elevator. Even then, I continued to look at the ground.

It was all I could do! I didn't know what to say to him, or if I should say anything. I would glance up at him a couple times, but never for too long. It made me feel too weird… I felt so lost. Seto eyed me as the elevator doors opened.

"Are you alright, Mokuba? You're acting a little weird."

"I'm fine," I mumbled to myself. Seto shook his head, giving up on trying to figure out what was troubling me. I mentally thought to myself that if he had asked me only once more if I was okay, I'd have the courage to tell him the truth. But he didn't… and away we went, down the hall, back to our room.

"I have to pick up something real quick before we go," Seto said, slipping into his room and getting something off his desk. I stood there, planning on being motionless, anticipating nothing to happen… unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. I slammed the door shut behind me. Seto jumped from surprised and twisted around. "Mokuba! Jesus, why'd you do that?!"

"How can you act like none of that mattered to you? How can you live with yourself pretending that the past didn't happen??" I could tell Seto didn't like my random angry outburst, I didn't care though. I couldn't keep pretending. We had to talk about this.

"Mokuba, don't talk to me with that tone of voice."

"I'll talk to you however I want! You can't just turn your back and pretend that didn't happen, because it did happen! Noah exists, he's our brother, and we left him to die along with our step father. Doesn't any of that bother you?" Seto took up the file he had just taken off his desk and threw it across the room.

"You do NOT talk to me that way; I am your older brother, Mokuba-"

"That's right; you're my older brother, just like Noah!" Seto was exploding with rage. He wasn't outwardly showing it, but it was all in his eyes. I had never seen him so mad at me before… but right now, I didn't care because I felt the same way.

I realized that it couldn't continue to be this way. That things had to come out, that the truth had to surface or else I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I needed to talk to Seto, to really talk to him. I wanted him to understand.

"I don't want to talk about this, not now, not ever," Seto said in a very low voice, one that I had dubbed his 'death voice' many years ago. This usually was a warning sign for any living person messing with Seto Kaiba. For me, this was a green light.

* * *

**A/N:** _Okay guys, so I really did think that this would be the last chapter to Consequences but I was surprised to find that it wasn't and this ended up having another chapter to go. And this time around I'm sure the next chapter is the last one!(I have pretty much the next chapter written, I just need to get around to editing it on top of finishing up Severance and such!) I'm trying my best to finish both my chapter stories before I leave the country July 18__th__, but it may be tougher than it looks! Anyhow, on the subject of the actual chapter, you guys should really be proud of what I have here and in the next chapter. I wrote this the last night I had at the beach, alone with my 3 younger brothers, and my 2 friends, and ALL of them were sugar high, jumping up and down, and dancing to loud rap music. It was SO annoying and it made writing SO hard. But I got it done and let me tell you… it's awesome. I can't wait to show you guys the ending because it is really fantastic. I had such a high when I finished it(3 hours later, I came out of my room and my brothers and friends were lying on the floor dead after crashing) And it just felt so good. I wanna say this is my best work yet, but you guys can decide when the next chapter comes! Anyways, sorry this is long, I just felt like I had some stories to share! Thanks for reading!_

_P.S: I just finished proof reading and editing my story and I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed! I'm not sure if it seems that way because I'm in a rush right now or what, but yeah, my bad if it is! Peace!_


	33. Chapter 33: Consequences

Sandstorm Amaterasu Zira: I suppose is it a little sad that both these stories are ending. I'm not very sad because when a story goes on for a really long time, even though you may have loved writing the story every moment of it, every writer loves the idea of new beginnings and bigger plots! And you can always look forward to future stories of mine, I'll always be writing and always be coming up with new ideas:] In the mean time, you can read my other fics if you like!(I've got 82 of them, until I come up with something new, you can keep yourself entertained with them, I'm sure, hahaha) Anyways, thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review! For some reason I forgot to mention that was a reference to the YGO The Movie Soundtrack, but I love that you remembered!

MythCreatorWriter: Yes ma'am, I also love it when I do the same thing. I'm sure I've done that with other great plot devices but man, I'm so tired I can barely remember any stories. It's taken a LOT to finish both of these stories AT THE SAME TIME. I keep having this horrible feeling that I've mixed them up or screwed them up in some way… but I guess I'll just have to trust my instincts!(lol Star Fox) And don't worry with not coming up with enough criticism, sometimes compliments can make me giddy! Haha. And the song was from the YGO the Movie soundtrack and it's a fantastic song. I love how I've used two of my favorite songs on that soundtrack for titles of this story. KIND OF TIGHT. Yeah, I can't believe I didn't edit till now!(it makes me feel like a silly child, honestly. I guess it's a good thing I got into the habit a year before college? hahahaXD) Before you can judge it, you definitely have to read my Steven trilogy! All my other readers keep saying that those stories are my best(its been so many months though that I've honestly forgotten) Anyways, thanks for the review!

AmePiper: I don't know if you'll see this in time, but I've made sure to finish both my stories on your birthday!:D Since I can't see you, I'd like to make this my birthday present to you, princess! Happy birthday!

Chapter 33: Consequences

**-M-**

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… and even in this age of wisdom and foolishness, I found myself in an epoch of war. The worst part was that I was fighting my brother and didn't plan on backing down.

"Nii-sama, Noah saved us!"

"Saving us doesn't make up for what he put us through!"

"He's still our brother!"

"He's not technically our brother, just the son of a monster!"

"You're Gozaburo's son too! Nii-sama, Gozaburo was our father!" Seto was becoming very angry now that Gozaburo had been brought into the argument.

"He was our **step** father and nothing more!" I shook my head in total astonishment. Seto was unbelievable. I dropped my arms to my sides in disappointment as I stared at my brother.

"I can't believe you… I mean, are you listening to yourself right now? You're so deep in denial that you can't even face the facts and accept that Gozaburo was our father… Keeping secrets, ignoring the past… Nii-sama, don't you realize those things were what messed up our relationship in the first place?" Seto's eyes narrowed. He was becoming red with rage. My initial reaction was to run, but I wasn't going to. One reason was because I could no longer feel my legs, but the main reason was because I knew I shouldn't. I knew I couldn't keep running from this, that this was an issue between us that we had to face.

"Why are you so willing to forgive the person that trapped us in that god forsaken virtual world, tried to take our bodies and keep us there, but worst of all… turn us against each other?" And in that moment, I'm not sure what it was that enabled me to speak so clearly, so strongly, the very statement I knew I had to say. My entire body, every part of it, was frozen from fear of my brother. I didn't even think I could speak, until he had said that… and somehow, I said every word.

"Because," I paused for a moment, so professionally and without taking in a breath, "It's _exactly _what we would've done… or rather… what you would've done." That was it, Seto snapped. Seto threw himself at me, and I didn't have the ability to move out of the way. All I could do, all I did, was cringe in fear and anticipate the beating of my life.

Seto grabbed both my shoulders, lifting my body into the air, and slammed me against the wall. I was so scared I could hardly breathe; somehow my eyes remained open as it happened. Never had I feared my brother so much my entire life as I did when he had me pinned up against the wall. I expected him to do what I thought he would and beat me. But… he didn't.

Suddenly the rage was vacant from his face as he stared me down.

"I pretend the past didn't happen for the sake of living… I can't live with myself… knowing that everything that happened to us, that happened to you… happened. Every time I do, I just…" Seto looked down, taking in a breath, "I have to pretend in order to keep living because otherwise… I can't live with myself. It does matter to me… I just don't want it to." Seto's head came up, looking me in the eye once more.

"Mokuba, I'm not just your brother, I'm your parent… I'm your protector. I have to keep going; I have to move on, for your sake… and mine. I've failed you so many times, I know I don't deserve you and some days I just think…" Seto shook his head; he slowly began to lower my body onto the ground. When my feet slid to the ground, Seto knelt down in front of me and hugged me tightly. I stood there, completely still, even as he held me against his shoulder.

"…What Noah did to you, the way he used you… to get to me… I could **never **forgive him. I can't. I will always hate him for what he did, just as I hate myself for letting it happen. And I realize I would've done the same if it were I in his situation as well… which only makes me hate myself more." Seto hug tightened. Still, I had refused to hug him back. I only stood there.

"I'm sorry, Mokuba… I'm sorry that I have to be this way, but it's the only way I can survive, it's the only way I can insure that you can make it… I want-no-I need to be strong enough to protect you, and sometimes… that means forcing myself into a denial of our past that is so deep that I've come to see it as reality… it's the way things have to be."

I stood there, completely silent. I didn't know whether my brother wanted a response or not, but he became quiet as well, hugging me all the same. Nothing was said. Seto moved one of his hands up and placed it on my head as he slowly broke away from his hug.

"I love you," Seto said. The word almost seemed foreign when I had first heard him say it. The phrase had always been implied through-out everything we had gone through, but… the words had rarely surfaced as of late. It was so strange hearing them now for the first time in ages, and yet… I could say nothing back.

I pulled away from his hug, saying nothing. Seto did the same, almost accepting my silence, taking it as an 'I love you too' in some weird way. Seto turned away as did I, leaving the room. There was nothing to be said. Things had finally become clear to me; I had finally discovered the truth.

I did love my brother, and I always would, but that entire experience had shown me that it was time to brace up, that it was time to pull away. My brother would always be by my side and be there for me, and deep down, I know I needed that to some degree. But I couldn't have it be that way forever; I couldn't rely on him completely anymore. I needed to live in the real world, to experience all that there was to experience, not only for me but for Noah as well.

Even though I loved my brother, that didn't change the fact that he and I would never be okay, to some degree. That I would sometimes disagree with the way he was, the way he did things… but I would have to accept that and move on. There was nothing I could do about it, nothing that could change. It wasn't too much of a shock for me… for I was aware that this was an issue that most families faced and every family endured. It's just how things are.

There are some things I can never tell Seto; times I know he'll never want to re-live. I know he remembers what happens; it's the experience that kills him inside. I may not be in captivity, but in some ways I will still be a prisoner to my brother's obscure sense of reality. But sometimes I know it's not his fault and I understand why he thinks that way.

It was only the consequences of apathy.

* * *

"Hey Nii-sama," Mokuba said, walking into his brother's study. Mokuba found his brother in his usual position, hunched over a laptop in the darkness of the room. Mokuba shook his head, switching on the light. This was a bit of a mistake on Mokuba's part, considering what a mess the room was to begin with. All around, trash and old food was everywhere. The trash cans were over filled, things were dusty and dirty, it was chaotic in a disgusting sense. But Mokuba hadn't expected better as he carefully walked over things that were on the ground and made his way over to Seto's computer station.

"I'm working," Seto said plainly, "Turn out the light, won't you?"

Seto had barely made any trips out of his study in the last year. Each time Mokuba had ventured into, what Mokuba had cleverly dubbed, 'The Kaiba Cave' ever since Seto had begun living in his study, he found his brother in the same position and would receive the same response; Seto always said he was working. Every time it was the same thing. Mokuba had figured it wasn't true as the months began to roll by, but he still traveled to his brother's study every once and a while anyway.

Seto hadn't been the same since he lost at the Battle City Finals. A bit of him had died with the greater disappointment he faced when he lost to his rival, Yugi. Seto was taking the loss hard, but Mokuba had a feeling he would. This was also the reason Mokuba hadn't done anything to force Seto out of his study. Mokuba understood that Seto needed a lot of time to deal with the loss and the boy was just happy to see that he hadn't run off a second time afterward.

"You're always working, but I know that doesn't mean anything," Mokuba said, wandering over to his brother's desk. Mokuba gazed at his brother's computer; he was playing a game of solitaire. Mokuba grinned. "You sure have a lot of work to do, don't you?"

"Why are you here?" Seto grumbled, continuing to play his game without looking up.

"I was wondering if you would accompany me to the outside… I'm going somewhere, thought you could use the exercise… and the sunlight." Seto tore his eyes away from the computer screen and looked up. He noticed that Mokuba was holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand, forget-me-nots to be exact. Seto eyed them and then stared at his brother.

"What are those for?" Seto asked in a monotone voice.

"I think you already know, Nii-sama. I bring flowers to Noah's grave every month to honor his memory. I was hoping, though, this month that you would come with me." Seto turned his head, shifting the mouse that was glued to the palm of his hand and beginning to play solitaire again.

"Hmph, I don't even know who you're talking about. But what I do know is that you should be bringing flowers to Mom and Dad's graves instead of wasting them on someone else." Mokuba's face was blank. Even that comment about his parents' didn't make him react. He wasn't angry nor was he sad. Mokuba placed his hand on Seto's shoulder.

"Okay Nii-sama, I'll get a new bouquet for Mom and Dad's graves next month. Any preferences or colors you think I should buy?"

"Blue… Mom always loved blue," Seto said solemnly.

"Blue flowers, huh? Anything for Mom. Well, I guess I'll head out by myself then." Mokuba understood his brother, and knew not to judge him. Mokuba could see why Seto did the things he did. And Mokuba didn't mind at all. Seto was his older brother, and he always would be; Mokuba had come to accept him for that. Mokuba still cared for him even after that.

Mokuba leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Seto's neck, hugging him tightly.

"Bye Nii-sama, I'll bring dinner up to you tonight." Seto did nothing, even as Mokuba unwound his arms from his neck. "I love you," was the last thing the boy said before he went and left the room. Just as Seto heard the door close, a smile could be seen appearing on his face.

"I love you too, kid."

* * *

When Mokuba walked into the graveyard, he expected to do the normal ritual he did. Walk over to Noah's grave, kick a little dirt on Gozaburo's grave when he passed by, remove the old flowers, put down the new flowers, say a little prayer or two and then be on his way. But that day, his normal ritual would be unbalanced by a surprising gesture of appreciation that he found by Noah's grave.

Instead of the old, wrinkled flowers Mokuba had put there last month, he found that the old ones had already been thrown away and replaced by new flowers. The flowers were a gorgeous, dark blue. Mokuba smiled.

"Nii-sama."

So maybe Seto pretended to walk away from his past, maybe he tried to force himself to never remember, but this proved that it was only an act, and that Seto would never forget. This might've shown Mokuba that Seto not only remembered, but was capable of honoring the things, the people, and the events that have happened as well; all those things that had brought him to where he was today.

Not all consequences caused tragedy. Some may even arise the certain feeling of hope. And hope was what kept him going, kept him believing.

Certainly, though, it was love… that would keep the brothers together, forever.

**The End**

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**A/N:** _FINALLY! IT HAS BEEN DONE! Sure, the last part of the ending was a bit corny, but STILL. Oh man… I have to tell you guys, it is TIRING writing two ends to two different stories at the SAME TIME! Its really tiring in every aspect you can IMAGINE, and not to MENTION how much stuff I have to do on top of doing all of this and getting ready to leave the country in only a couple days! But my goals were set a while ago and I'm happy to see this finally finished. It's funny that almost with every story I write, I love writing it through-out the whole story, but when I reach the end, oh man, am I overjoyed. It's kind of like being the parent that FINALLY gets the last kid into college and out of the house. I get that sort of feeling from finishing a story of mine. It's like you love the kid, but man, are you happy to have the house to yourself. Hahaha, anyways, so… I don't know, I feel like I should say something but I don't have much to say. This story is DONE, baby, I'm free! This story was crazy, it was the longest story I ever wrote, and it took me the longest to finish(other than Severance, if you guys know me, it only takes me a couple months to write and finish a story. Not to say its been a year yet, but it's been more like a LOT of months) Hmmm… how do you I usually finish my stories in an author's note? I remember one year I wrote a list of people to thank. I don't think I'll do that, even though I think I should get a grammy or an emmy of some sort for this. I don't know, I guess I'll just end it with; so long and thanks for all the fish!_

_P.S: Hell yes there's a P.S. in this! Happy birthday (again) AmePiper! I love you!_


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